Hard X-ray/Soft gamma-ray experiments and missions: overview and prospects

TL;DR

This review summarizes past and current high-energy space missions and balloon experiments in the 10-600 keV range, highlighting achievements and future prospects for understanding energetic cosmic phenomena.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of high-energy astrophysics missions, identifying technological needs and future directions in the field.

Findings

Summarizes key missions and experiments since the 1960s.

Highlights technological challenges and open issues.

Outlines future prospects for high-energy astrophysics.

Abstract

Starting from 1960s, a great number of missions and experiments have been performed for the study of the high--energy sky. This review gives a wide vision of the most important space missions and balloon experiments that have operated in the 10--600 keV band, a crucial window for the study of the most energetic and violent phenomena in the Universe. Thus it is important to take the stock of the achievements to better establish what we have still to do with future missions in order to progress in this field, to establish which are the technologies required to solve the still open issues and to extend our knowledge of the Universe.