| Mission type | Space telescope (Astrophysics) |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2026-004R |
| SATCAT no. | 67378  |
| Mission duration | 14 months (planned) 2 days (in progress) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Penn State |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 11 January 2026, 13:44:50 UTC |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 (booster 1097) |
| Launch site | Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4 |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Dawn/dusk sun-synchronous orbit |
| Altitude | 500 to 600 km |
BlackCAT (Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope) is a small X-ray astronomy space telescope in the form of a 6U CubeSat developed by NASA and Penn State. [1] [2] [3] Its objective is to observe gamma ray bursts, counterparts to multi-messenger events, and other high energy transient astronomical events. [4] [5] [6] [7] The spacecraft launched on 11 January 2026 on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission "Twilight" together with two other astronomy mission by NASA: Pandora and SPARCS. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] The spacecraft is expected to undergo two months of in-orbit commissioning followed by a one year science mission. Its orbital lifetime is expected to be approximately 10 years. [14]
