LECX: A cubesat experiment to detect and localize cosmic explosions in hard X-rays

Abstract

With the advent of the nanosat/cubesat revolution, new opportunities have appeared to develop and launch small (∼1000 cm3), low-cost (∼US$ 1M) experiments in space in very short time frames (∼2 yr). In the field of high-energy astrophysics, in particular, it is a considerable challenge to design instruments with compelling science and competitive capabilities that can fit in very small satellite buses, such as a cubesat platform, and operate them with very limited resources. Here, we describe a hard X-ray (30–200 keV) experiment, LECX (‘Localizador de Explosões Cósmicas de Raios X’ – Locator of X-Ray Cosmic Explosions), that is capable of detecting and localizing within a few degrees events like gamma-ray bursts and other explosive phenomena in a 2U-cubesat platform, at a rate of ∼5 events per year. In the current gravitational wave era of astronomy, a constellation or swarm of small spacecraft carrying instruments such as LECX can be a very cost-effective way to search for electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events produced by the coalescence of compact objects.