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A French-Chinese satellite will blast off Saturday on a hunt for the mightiest explosions in the universe, in a notable example of cooperation between a Western power and the Asian giant.
Developed by engineers from both countries, the Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) will seek out gamma-ray bursts, the light from which has travelled billions of light years to reach Earth.
The 930-kilogram satellite carrying four instruments – two French, two Chinese – will lift off aboard a Chinese Long March 2-C rocket from a space base in Xichang, in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Gamma-ray bursts generally occur after the explosion of huge stars – those more than 20 times as big as the sun – or the fusion of compact stars.
