The key factor in the development of astrophysics in the last decades was the possibility to broaden the observable band to the entire electromagnetic spectrum, which was previously confined to visible radiation, and detect all the high energy particles coming from celestial objects. This became possible only when we were able to carry telescopes and detectors out of the absorbing screen of the atmosphere. High energy astrophysics, in X and gamma bands, is therefore a relatively young science, born with the conquer of space, and Italians can be regarded among the fathers of this branch of modern astronomy: Bruno Rossi in the United States and Giuseppe Occhialini, known as “Beppo”, in Europe were actually the first to develop observation techniques and experiment in this field.
The study of the most powerful phenomena in the Universe
‣ All the missions
CALET ‣
CALET is an observatory operating on the International Space Station, specialized in measuring cosmic electrons
IXPE ‣
L’Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer is a mission under development, which is part of the NASA SMEX space programme, whose principal investigator is Dr. Martin Weisskopf from the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, United States.
INTEGRAL ‣
INTEGRAL is a European mission in partnership with Russia and United States, aimed at observing one of the most energetic radiations in the Universe from space
FERMI ‣
FERMI is a large-area space telescope to detect gamma-rays
SWIFT ‣
SWIFT is MIDEX-NASA class mission, targeted at high-energy astrophysics and designed in cooperation with Italy and United Kingdom.
XMM-NEWTON ‣
The X-ray Multi-Mirror mission, renamed XMM-Newton in honour of the British physicist, is the most important European contribution to astronomy in the X-ray band.
AGILE ‣
AGILE (Light Imager for Gamma-ray Astrophysics) is an Italian mission targeted at studying the high-energy Universe
AMS-02 ‣
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle detector operating as an International Space Station external module
EUSO-SPB2 ‣
EUSO-SPB2 è un esperimento condotto su pallone stratosferico per la misura di neutrini e raggi cosmici di altissime energie dallo spazio
BEPPOSAX ‣
An Italian satellite, pioneer in the study of X sources
‣ Latest News
FRIDAY 08 MAY 2026
The cooperation agreement signed today at the Italian Embassy in Berlin for the mission with significant Italian participation MORE...
TUESDAY 28 APRIL 2026
The second edition of the course, promoted by ASI and held at its Centre within Telespazio, concludes with strong international participation MORE...
MONDAY 30 MARCH 2026
European Space Agency (ESA), Italian Space Agency (ASI) and OHB Italia: The programme of the Italian Government marks another success MORE...
THURSDAY 22 JANUARY 2026
The EMSi-MK.02 wearable device will act as a countermeasure to the negative effects of microgravity on the astronaut’s Musculo-skeletal system MORE...
MONDAY 19 JANUARY 2026
Just days after launch, the first images are received from the third satellite of the second generation of the Earth Observation programme promoted by the Italian Space Agency and the Ministry of Defence, involving national industry with Leonardo, Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio and e-GEO MORE...