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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24549 |
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| _version_ | 1866910015107891200 |
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| author | Franel, Nathan Tatischeff, Vincent Murphy, David Ulyanov, Alexey McKenna, Caimin Hanlon, Lorraine Baranwal, Prerna Beigbeder, Christophe Claret, Arnaud Cojocari, Ion de Séréville, Nicolas Dosme, Nicolas Doumayrou, Eric Georgieva, Mariya Hamadache, Clarisse Hankache, Sally Jeglot, Jimmy Kiss, Mózsi Ky, Beng-Yun Lafage, Vincent Laurent, Philippe Galliard, Christine Le Mangan, Joseph Meuris, Aline Pearce, Mark Peyré, Jean Poitaya, Arjun Renaud, Diana Saussac, Arnaud Varun, Varun Vecchio, Matias Wade, Colin |
| author_facet | Franel, Nathan Tatischeff, Vincent Murphy, David Ulyanov, Alexey McKenna, Caimin Hanlon, Lorraine Baranwal, Prerna Beigbeder, Christophe Claret, Arnaud Cojocari, Ion de Séréville, Nicolas Dosme, Nicolas Doumayrou, Eric Georgieva, Mariya Hamadache, Clarisse Hankache, Sally Jeglot, Jimmy Kiss, Mózsi Ky, Beng-Yun Lafage, Vincent Laurent, Philippe Galliard, Christine Le Mangan, Joseph Meuris, Aline Pearce, Mark Peyré, Jean Poitaya, Arjun Renaud, Diana Saussac, Arnaud Varun, Varun Vecchio, Matias Wade, Colin |
| contents | COMCUBE-S (COMCUBE-S (Compton Telescope CubeSat Swarm) is a proposed mission aimed at understanding the radiation mechanisms of ultra-relativistic jets from Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). It consists of a swarm of 16U CubeSats carrying a state-of-the-art Compton polarimeter and a bismuth germanium oxide (BGO) spectrometer to perform timing, spectroscopic and polarimetric measurements of the prompt emission from GRBs. The mission is currently in a feasibility study phase (Phase A) with the European Space Agency to prepare an in-orbit demonstration. Here, we present the simulation work used to optimise the design and operational concept of the microsatellite constellation, as well as estimate the mission performance in terms of GRB detection rate and polarimetry. We used the MEGAlib software to simulate the response function of the gamma-ray instruments, together with a detailed model for the background particle and radiation fluxes in low-Earth orbit. We also developed a synthetic GRB population model to best estimate the detection rate. These simulations show that COMCUBE-S will detect about 2 GRBs per day, which is significantly higher than that of all past and current GRB missions. Furthermore, simulated performance for linear polarisation measurements shows that COMCUBE-S will be able to uniquely distinguish between competing models of the GRB prompt emission, thereby shedding new light on some of the most fundamental aspects of GRB physics. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_24549 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimetry with the COMCUBE-S CubeSat Swarm -- Design and Performance Simulations Franel, Nathan Tatischeff, Vincent Murphy, David Ulyanov, Alexey McKenna, Caimin Hanlon, Lorraine Baranwal, Prerna Beigbeder, Christophe Claret, Arnaud Cojocari, Ion de Séréville, Nicolas Dosme, Nicolas Doumayrou, Eric Georgieva, Mariya Hamadache, Clarisse Hankache, Sally Jeglot, Jimmy Kiss, Mózsi Ky, Beng-Yun Lafage, Vincent Laurent, Philippe Galliard, Christine Le Mangan, Joseph Meuris, Aline Pearce, Mark Peyré, Jean Poitaya, Arjun Renaud, Diana Saussac, Arnaud Varun, Varun Vecchio, Matias Wade, Colin High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics COMCUBE-S (COMCUBE-S (Compton Telescope CubeSat Swarm) is a proposed mission aimed at understanding the radiation mechanisms of ultra-relativistic jets from Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). It consists of a swarm of 16U CubeSats carrying a state-of-the-art Compton polarimeter and a bismuth germanium oxide (BGO) spectrometer to perform timing, spectroscopic and polarimetric measurements of the prompt emission from GRBs. The mission is currently in a feasibility study phase (Phase A) with the European Space Agency to prepare an in-orbit demonstration. Here, we present the simulation work used to optimise the design and operational concept of the microsatellite constellation, as well as estimate the mission performance in terms of GRB detection rate and polarimetry. We used the MEGAlib software to simulate the response function of the gamma-ray instruments, together with a detailed model for the background particle and radiation fluxes in low-Earth orbit. We also developed a synthetic GRB population model to best estimate the detection rate. These simulations show that COMCUBE-S will detect about 2 GRBs per day, which is significantly higher than that of all past and current GRB missions. Furthermore, simulated performance for linear polarisation measurements shows that COMCUBE-S will be able to uniquely distinguish between competing models of the GRB prompt emission, thereby shedding new light on some of the most fundamental aspects of GRB physics. |
| title | Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimetry with the COMCUBE-S CubeSat Swarm -- Design and Performance Simulations |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24549 |