Tongchuan-1 Spacecraft

Pick up signals from gamma-ray bursts.

Pick up signals from extremely energetic events known as gamma-ray bursts, with the main science goal of identifying and locating the electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves such as those famously detected by LIGO. First experimental verification satellite for the Tiange astrophysics project, jointly developed by SPACETY, Tsinghua University and the government of Tongchuan city, Shaanxi province.

This satellite is equipped with a newly developed high-sensitivity X-ray polarization detector for astronomical observation testing. In addition, it will verify inter-satellite communication technology and attempt to link up with a new satellite ground station constructed by the space technology company Xingyi.

On May 18 2018, the high voltage was turned on for the first time to enter the operating mode, and the space X-ray and charged particle-triggered tracks were successfully detected, indicating that the detector was operating normally, and the feasibility of applying the new generation of polarization detection technology to space astronomy was verified.

The City of Tongchuan is funding the spacecraft.