On March 16, 2023, the flight models of two French scientific payloads of the Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) satellite were transported to the assembly building of the Shanghai Engineering Center for Microsatellites (SECM). These two instruments, developed by the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), are a low-energy X-ray Telescope (MXT) and a low-energy γ-ray imager and spectrometer (Eclairs). Before this delivery, the gamma-ray spectrometer (GRM) developed by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the optical telescope developed by CAS’s Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics were delivered to SECM in 2022 and early 2023 respectively. The SVOM satellite products are now complete and this mission has entered into its final integration and testing phase.

On March 22, 2023, a team of nearly 20 scientists and engineers from CNES arrived in Shanghai, and together with the engineers of SECM started to carry out tests of the French payloads, the interface test with the satellite platform, and the functional test of the payloads.

On April 18, 2023, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and CNES jointly hosted the 9th Joint Steering Committee meeting of the SVOM mission at CAS’s National Astronomical Observatories. The meeting reviewed the progress of the project since the 8th meeting in October 2021 and discussed the launch plan of the satellite. The SVOM satellite is targeted for delivery to the launch site in late 2023 and for launch before March 2024.

The SVOM satellite, jointly developed by the Chinese and French governments, is dedicated to gamma-ray burst detection. It was approved by the CNSA and the CNES and was developed by SECM. The SVOM satellite is capable of detection and rapid location of various gamma-ray bursts, and can complete the comprehensive measurement of the electromagnetic radiation properties of gamma-ray bursts by working together with ground follow-up telescopes, and also provide observation data for the study of dark energy and cosmic evolution.

Source: Innovation Academy for Microsatellites,

Chinese Academy of Sciences