---
title: "SpaceX Scores NASA Contract to Launch Black Hole Spacecraft"
description: "NASA just awarded SpaceX with a launch services contract to launch NASA's Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission in 2021."
date: "2019-07-09"
modified: "2019-07-09"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-nasa-contract-black-hole-spacecraft"
categories:
  - "Astrophysics"
  - "Black Holes"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
tags:
  - "Black holes"
  - "cosmic rays"
  - "NASA"
  - "neutron star"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# SpaceX Scores NASA Contract to Launch Black Hole Spacecraft

![NASA just awarded SpaceX with a launch services contract to launch NASA's Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission in 2021.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/spacex-nasa-contract-black-hole-spacecraft.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Black Hole Explorer

NASA just awarded SpaceX a contract to launch what the [agency's calling](<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-groundbreaking-astrophysics-mission>) a "groundbreaking astrophysics mission:" NASA's [Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer](<https://ixpe.msfc.nasa.gov/>) (IXPE) mission, which could one day allow astronomers to uncover the mysteries behind black holes and neutron stars.

The $50.3 million mission is planning to launch three space telescopes that are capable of analyzing the polarization of cosmic X-rays. With that kind of data, we could find out how supermassive black holes or pulsar wind nebulae — windstorms that follow supernovae — are formed.

## Revealing Physics

The IXPE mission was selected back in 2017 as one of NASA's small astrophysics missions.

"We cannot directly image what’s going on near objects like black holes and neutron stars, but studying the polarization of X-rays emitted from their surrounding environments reveals the physics of these enigmatic objects," Paul Hertz, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, [said in a statement](<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-mission-to-study-black-holes-cosmic-x-ray-mysteries/>) at the time. The project, he said, "will open a new window on the universe for astronomers to peer through."

A preliminary launch date is set for April 2021 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. It's unlikely it will take up the full payload of the rocket, as [*SpaceNews.com* points out](<https://spacenews.com/spacex-wins-contract-to-launch-nasa-small-astrophysics-mission/>).

**READ MORE:** [SpaceX contracted by NASA to launch black hole and neutron star research craft](<https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/08/spacex-contracted-by-nasa-to-launch-black-hole-and-neutron-star-research-craft/>) \[*TechCrunch*\]

**More on black holes:** *[New Research Reveals That Black Holes Can Die ](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/model-black-holes-dissipate>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)