Instrument Overview of a Gravitational Wave Counterpart CubeSat: BurstCube

The simultaneous detection of both gravitational-waves (GWs) and the electromagnetic radiation counterpart from merging compact object binaries will provide a probe of the merger’s underlying physics, the nature of the progenitors, and the system’s post-merger state. BurstCube is a 6U (10 x 20 x 30 cm^3) CubeSat that will deliver the needed multi-messenger context for GWs by detecting, localizing, and rapidly disseminating information about short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) and other gamma-ray transients from across the full unocculted sky. BurstCube’s instrument consists of four Thallium-doped Cesium Iodide (CsI) scintillators coupled to banks of Silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM) arrays, and is sensitive to photon energies between 50 keV and 1 MeV. In this work we report on the outcomes of final instrument integration, testing, and pre-launch instrument performance of BurstCube.