Developed by engineers from both countries, the mission called ‘Svom’ (Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor), a notable Sino-Western collaboration in space, aims to detect and locate these very distant cosmic phenomena, with their monumental power.
The 930 kilogram satellite contains four instruments (two Chinese and two French) and was launched into space at around 3pm local time (8am in Lisbon) aboard the Chinese rocket “Long March 2 -C”, from the Xichang space base, in Sichuan province (southwest China), according to AFP journalists.
In simple terms, gamma ray bursts usually occur after the explosion of massive stars (more than 20 times the mass of the Sun) or with the merger of compact stars.
The most powerful explosions in the Universe, these colossally bright bursts of radiation can release energy equivalent to more than a billion billion suns.
“Observing them is a bit like going back in time, because their light takes a long time to reach Earth – several billion years for the most distant ones”, Frédé explained to AFP ric Daigne, scientist at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics and one of the greatest French experts in gamma ray bursts.
When traveling through space, light also passes through different gases and galaxies, taking their fingerprints with it. This is precious information for understanding the history and evolution of the Universe.
“We are also interested in gamma-ray bursts per se, because they are very extreme cosmic explosions that give us a better understanding of the death of certain stars,” noted Daigne, also an astrophysicist.
The most distant explosion identified so far occurred just 630 million years after the Big Bang, that is, 5% of the current age of the Universe.
Once analyzed, the information can also be used to better understand the composition of space, gas dynamics and other galaxies.
The project is the result of a partnership between the French (Cnes) and Chinese (CNSA) space agencies, in which several scientific and technical organizations from both countries also participate.
Although not rare, space cooperation between China and the West is not very common at this level, especially since Washington banned NASA from collaborating with Beijing in the space sector in 2011.
“The United States’ concerns about technology transfer have contributed to slowing down collaboration between its allies and the Chinese. But occasional collaboration does materialize,” Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer, told AFP. from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in the United States.
In 2018, China and France jointly launched CFOSAT, an oceanographic satellite used for marine meteorology. European countries are also participating in China’s Chang’e lunar exploration program.
Although not “unique” of its kind, the ‘Svom’ project continues to be “important” in the context of Sino-Western space collaboration, McDowell highlights.
The satellite, placed in Earth’s orbit at an altitude of 625 kilometers, will send the data to observatories on Earth.
The main difficulty is the fact that gamma ray bursts have an extremely short duration, meaning scientists will have to race against time to collect the information.
As soon as ‘Svom’ detects an explosion, it sends an alert to a team that is on duty 24 hours a day.
In less than five minutes, they will then have to activate a network of terrestrial telescopes that will be aligned precisely in the direction of the source of the explosion, for more detailed observations.
