ESA's Candidate Missions

Credits: Khosroshahi, Maughan, Ponman, Jones, ESA, ING.

XMM-Newton observations of the fossil galaxy cluster RX J1416.5+2315, show a cloud of hot gas emitting X-rays (in blue). The cloud, reaching temperatures of about 50 million degrees, extend over 3.5 million light years and surround a giant elliptical galaxy believed to have grown to its present size by cannibalising its neighbours.

XEUS, X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy
XEUS is a next-generation X-ray space observatory to study the fundamental laws of the Universe and the origins of the universe. With unprecedented sensitivity to the hot, million-degree universe, XEUS would explore key areas of contemporary astrophysics: growth of supermassive black holes, cosmic feedback and galaxy evolution, evolution of large-scale structures, extreme gravity and matter under extreme conditions, the dynamical evolution of cosmic plasmas and cosmic chemistry. XEUS would be stationed in a halo orbit at L2, the second Lagrange point, with two satellites (one mirror satellite and the other a detector satellite) that would fly in formation.

ESA announces candidate missions for 2015-2025 Cosmic Vision
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Including space walking, spacecraft docking and the setting up of a space laboratory before 2010, China is also planning to land a human on the moon and to make a series of robotic missions with a view to building a base there after 2020.
China reveals space plans from Space Daily
NASA terminates Kistler Rocketplane contract from Cosmic Log
ESA's Integral Project ends its five year journey from Goldenship9
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