To measure the polarization of gamma-ray bursts in X-ray energy band, we have developed a 50 kg microsatellite named "TSUBAME". The satellite has a compact and high-sensitive hard X-ray polarimeter employing newly-developed shock resistant multi-anode photomultipliers and Si avalanche photodiodes. Thanks to the ultra low-noise detectors and signal processors, the polarimeter can cover a wide energy range of 30−200 keV even at 25 • C with a high modulation factor of 62 %. TSUBAME is in the phase of final functional tests waiting for shipping to Baikonur and will be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km in late 2014. In this paper, the pre-flight performance of the gamma-ray detector system and the satellite bus system are presented.
TSUBAME is a micro-satellite that the students of Tokyo Institute of Technology took the lead to develop for measuring hard X-ray polarization of Gamma-Ray Bursts(GRBs) in order to reveal the nature of the central engine of GRBs. TSUBAME has two instruments: Wide-field Burst Monitor (WBM) and Hard X-ray Compton Polarimeter (HXCP). We aim to start observing with HXCP in 15 seconds by pointing the spacecraft using Control Moment Gyro. In August 2014, we assembled TSUBAME and performed an integration test during 2 weeks. On Nov 6 2014, TSUBAME was launched from Russia and it was put into Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km above the ground. However, serious trouble occurred to the ham radio equipment. Therefore we could not start up the X-ray sensors until Feb 10 2015. In this paper, we report the system of TSUBAME and the progress after the launch.
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