China and France launch satellite to study the history of the universe

Franco-Chinese cooperation is heading back to the stars. China launched a satellite on Saturday, June 22, responsible for spotting “gamma bursts”, real luminous fossils which should provide more information on the history of the universe. Developed by engineers from the two countries, this mission called “Svom” (for “Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor”) aims to detect and locate these very distant cosmic phenomena, with their monumental power.

The 930 kilo satellite, which contains four instruments (two Chinese and two French), was launched “with success” into space on Saturday at 3 p.m. (7 a.m. GMT) aboard a Chinese Long March 2-C rocket from the Xichang base (southwest China), announced the Chinese space agency CNSA.

The gamma-ray burst phenomenon generally occurs after the explosion of massive stars (more than 20 times the mass of the Sun) or the merger of compact stars. These detonations are the most powerful in the universe and generate radiation of colossal luminosity. They can release energy equivalent to more than a billion billion suns.

“Observing them is a bit like going back in time, because their light takes a long time to reach us on Earth, several billion years for the most distant ones”, explains to AFP Frédéric Daigne, astrophysicist at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics and one of the main French experts on gamma-ray bursts. As it travels through space, this light also passes through different gases and galaxies, taking their imprints with it. Valuable information to better understand the history and evolution of the universe.