The HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) Pathfinder mission

TL;DR

HERMES Pathfinder is a constellation of six nano-satellites designed to detect and localize high-energy transients like Gamma-Ray Bursts, enhancing multi-messenger astronomy and complementing gravitational wave observations.

Contribution

This paper introduces the HERMES Pathfinder mission, a novel modular nano-satellite constellation for high-energy transient detection and localization in space.

Findings

Design of miniaturized X-ray and gamma-ray detectors for CubeSats

Operational plan for rapid transient localization using triangulation

Integration with existing space assets for multi-messenger astronomy

Abstract

HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) Pathfinder is a space-borne mission based on a constellation of six nano-satellites flying in a low-Earth orbit (LEO). The 3U CubeSats, to be launched in early 2025, host miniaturized instruments with a hybrid Silicon Drift Detector/GAGG:Ce scintillator photodetector system, sensitive to X-rays and gamma-rays in a large energy band. HERMES will operate in conjunction with Australian Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) 6U CubeSat, launched in December 2023. HERMES will probe the temporal emission of bright high-energy transients such as Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), ensuring a fast transient localization in a field of view of several steradians exploiting the triangulation technique. HERMES intrinsically modular transient monitoring experiment represents a keystone capability to complement the next generation of gravitational wave experiments. In this paper we outline the scientific case, development and programmatic status of the mission