The payload subsystem of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) satellite passed its delivery review on 8 August.

The review meeting was held by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) that is responsible for the development of the satellite. After listening to the reports and discussion, the review board concluded that all the functions and ports meet with the design requirements. This marks the completion of all research and development work on the payload. The HXMT satellite is planned to launch at the end of this year from the Jiuquan satellite launch center.

The Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) is leading the development of the HXMT project as China’s first X-ray astronomical satellite. Based on their innovative direct demodulation image reconstruction method, IHEP scientists LI Tipei and WU Mei proposed this project.

There are three main payloads onboard HXMT, the high energy X-ray telescope (20-250 keV, 5100 cm²), the medium energy X-ray telescope (5-30 keV, 952 cm²), and the low energy X-ray telescope (1-15 keV, 384 cm²).

The main scientific objectives of HXMT are to scan the Galactic Plane to find new transient sources and to monitor the known variable sources, and to observe X-ray binaries to study the dynamics and emission mechanism in strong gravitational or magnetic fields.

HXMT Satellite Payloads Pass Delivery Review (Image by IHEP)