SVOM satellite in space Photos: courtesy of the CAS

 

SVOM satellite in space Photos: courtesy of the CAS

 
Space-based Multi-band Variable Object Monitor (SVOM), a joint space science satellite co-developed by China and France, released its first batch of scientific findings on Thursday, amid the national celebration of the 10th Space Day of China. 

SVOM, launched by China's Long March-2C rocket on June 22, 2024, has completed in-orbit testing work for the satellite platform and scientific instruments in its some 10 months of flight. To date, per the Chinese developers, SVOM has detected more than 100 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs,) including several of special types and has set a new record for the most distant observation of a short-duration GRB. Through coordinated space-ground observations, spectral redshifts have been successfully obtained for 22 GRBs, they said.

The Global Times learned from the Shanghai-based Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS), the Chinese team of the satellite developers, that one of the most impressive findings is the capture of the GRB250314A that comes from some 13 billion years ago and has a remarkably high redshift of 7.3. This burst dates back to the early universe, some 700 million years after the Big Bang. According to scientists, it may have been caused by the collapse of one of the universe's first-generation stars into a black hole or neutron star, offering humanity a rare glimpse into the cosmic "infancy" of the universe.

The SVOM was officially delivered to the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for operational use on Wednesday in Shanghai, under the witness of China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the CAS. 

During the handover event, delegates from both China and France hailed that SVOM does not only represent the most powerful satellite system to date for multi-band comprehensive observations of gamma-ray bursts, but also marks a major milestone for the China-France satellite project, marking a unique model of high-level, in-depth international space cooperation between two major space powers. 

SVOM will propel global time-domain astronomy research into a new era, they said.