GRBAlpha, VZLUSAT-2 and GRBBeta -- GRB observations with CubeSats
Jakub Ripa, Marianna Dafcikova, Andras Pal, Norbert Werner, Masanori Ohno, Laszlo Meszaros, Filip Munz, Balazs Csak, Gabor Galgoczi, Nikola Husarikova, Tomas Vitek, Pavel Kosik, Michaela Duriskova, Martin Kolar, Lea Szakszonova, Michal Pazderka, Filip Hroch, Martin Topinka

TL;DR
This paper reports on the successful use of CubeSats with gamma-ray detectors to monitor transient gamma-ray events, demonstrating long-term operation and detection capabilities over multiple years.
Contribution
It presents the design, deployment, and operational results of three CubeSat missions with gamma-ray detectors, showing their effectiveness in detecting gamma-ray bursts over extended periods.
Findings
Detected over 360 gamma-ray transients including the brightest GRBs
CubeSats operated successfully for over three years
Studied radiation damage effects on SiPMs in space environment
Abstract
Results from GRBAlpha, VZLUSAT-2 and GRBBeta CubeSats and their on-board gamma-ray detectors for monitoring transients are summarised in this article. GRBAlpha was a 1U CubeSat launched in March 2021 to a 550 km altitude polar orbit carrying a CsI(Tl) scintillator gamma-ray burst (GRB) detector with a sensitive range of approximately 30-900 keV. It successfully operated for over four years until June 2025 when it de-orbited. VZLUSAT-2 was a 3U CubeSat launched in January 2022 to a 535 km altitude polar orbit and de-orbited in November 2025 after almost four years of smooth operation. It carried on board two GRB detectors very similar to the one used on GRBAlpha. Both missions have detected about 360 gamma-ray transients, including over 170 long and short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and including the most intense GRB ever recorded GRB 221009A and the second brightest GRB 230307A. The new…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsGamma-ray bursts and supernovae · Astro and Planetary Science · Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies
