MX2 unavailable from December 2025 through to June 2026
In 2026, ANSTO’s Australian Synchrotron will undertake a major upgrade of the Macromolecular Crystallography (MX2) beamline’s sample robot and goniometer system.
This upgrade will significantly advance the speed and performance of our services and bring the beamline capabilities in line with our newly operational BRIGHT beamline, the High-Performance Macromolecular Crystallography (MX3) beamline.
To complete the upgrade, it will be necessary to take the beamline offline for up to 6 months, limiting the commercial beamtime available on MX2 over 2026. Our goal is to bring MX2 back online as quickly as possible. We are committed to minimising the total downtime and ensuring a smooth transition to the upgraded system.
Project Updates as of July 2026:
May 2026 saw the MX team open the shutters on the newly upgraded MX2 endstation and begin the hot commissioning phase of the project. After over six months of lying dormant and dark, beam was brought back through the MX2 optics and aligned at all energies.
Hot commissioning of the new robot and goniometer has continued through June, with the team recently collecting images on LAB6 samples showing beam aligned with sample position, beam stop and detector. Next steps will involve collecting on insulin test crystals and testing of our new operational software systems.
Our aim is to "soft launch" the new MX2 for selected users during a period of "Expert User" time from late July/early August, ramping up for MX2 operations in Run 3, 2026.
Project Updates as of March 2026:
December 2025 saw the dismantling and removal of the detector, robot, goniometer and A-frame from the endstation.
January and February 2026 focused on preparing the space for the new equipment. The endstation floor was ground and repainted, drilling and coring and old cabling was removed. New cryogen lines and new positioners (granite blocks) were installed.
Plans for March 2026
The Arinax goniometer was successfully installed in early March.
After some rerouting of flights from Europe, Irelec have made it onsite and are currently installing the robot.
Once that is completed, the reinstallation of the detector, cryostream and other equipment can occur.
In April 2026 the scientific computing team will align the MX2 operating system with the updated MX3 OS before hot commissioning begins in May and we start testing beam to samples in June.
Supporting your needs:
We understand the critical importance of our beamline services to your commercial projects. Note that during this upgrade period, the Australian Synchrotron’s MX1 beamline will remain fully operational and available for commercial services. The MX1 beamline can collect high quality data on crystals >50 mm at similar speeds to MX2. Additionally, our new High-Performance Macromolecular Crystallography MX3 beamline may also be available for limited commercial activity in 2026. Please reach out to the MX team for further details as required.
Thank you for your understanding.
Our team is available to address any questions or concerns that you may have regarding the scheduling and impact of this beamline upgrade on your projects.