COMCUBE-S: a CubeSat swarm for GRB polarimetry and localisation

Le résumé fourni par la source

COMCUBE-S is a proposed CubeSat swarm mission designed to provide polarisation measurements of Gamma-Ray Burst prompt emission as well as all-sky monitoring for high-energy time domain astronomy, with rapid alert notifications in response to high energy transients. The mission consists of 28 16U CubeSats. Each satellite carries an advanced miniaturised Compton telescope allowing COMCUBE-S to make temporal, spectral, and polarimetric measurements of gamma-rays in the tens of keV to a few MeV range. The swarm satellites will be equally distributed along an equatorial orbit, forming a closed ring of intersatellite links. Satellites in the swarm are able to identify high-energy transients, relay data to the ground and distribute source locations to observatories worldwide for follow-up observations. COMCUBE-S will localise ≈160 GRBs per year with positions relayed within 120 s and will provide spectro-polarimetric observations of 60 GRBs with a Minimum Detectable Polarisation (MDP) < 30%, allowing the main models of GRB prompt emission to be determined from the measured distribution of polarisation fractions. The project has completed a Phase A study with ESA and aims to launch a two-satellite in-orbit demonstration by 2030.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.