In March 2011 ESA announced a new way forward for the L-class candidate missions: IXO, EJSM-Laplace and LISA. At this time the IXO concept ceased to be a candidate and ESA, along with the scientific community, is now investigating to what extent a European-led mission could preserve the original science case of IXO. The new study is called ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics).

For more information about the ATHENA mission please follow the link in the left-hand menu.