The Constellation X-ray mission: exploring the mysteries of matter in the universe

The Constellation-X, a premier observatory for probing black holes and investigating the structure of the Universe, is planned for launch in late 2008. This observatory will consist of a constellation of identical space based X-ray telescopes, with a large total collecting area and sensitivity one hundred times previous missions. The current Reference Mission Configuration consists of four satellites, which are launched, two at a time, into operational orbit at the Sun-Earth libration point, L2. Development is currently underway to demonstrate several mission critical technologies including: large lightweight grazing incidence X-ray optics, improved X-ray detectors (microcalorimeters, CCDs and CdZnTe detectors) with sensitivities from 0.25 to 40 kiloelectron volts (keV), sub-Kelvin coolers for detectors, lightweight mass producible reflection gratings, and multi-layer coatings for X-rays up to 40 keV.