ИСТИНА

The research program of Moscow State University includes the study of cosmic radiation and energetic processes in the upper atmosphere using instruments installed on small cubesat satellites. In particular, a scintillation spectrometer of gamma radiation and electrons DeCoR is installed on a number of spacecraft, with the help of which cosmic gamma-ray bursts and gamma radiation from solar flares are regularly recorded. The instruments of DeCoR family also carry out studies of solar cosmic rays and variations of near-Earth electrons. Optical and UV atmospheric flashes associated with high-altitude discharges were recorded onboard cubesats using the AURA photometer. The next stage of the MSU space program involves the installation of equipment with improved characteristics providing simultaneous measurements with different instruments. To do this the Scorpion small satellite in the cubesat 16U format is currently being prepared for launch, scheduled for the summer of 2025. It will carry a complex of scientific instruments from the Moscow State University, designed primarily to study transient phenomena in the upper atmosphere. The payload includes the TGS gamma-ray spectrometer for detecting atmospheric gamma-ray bursts (TGF), the SONET optical and UV photometer and spectrometer for studying high-altitude discharges, as well as a complex of cosmic radiation detectors and a biocontainer for studying the influence of space factors on microorganisms. The satellite will be launched into a circular polar orbit with a height of ~ 500 km. Thus, observations of atmospheric phenomena will be carried out in all areas, including the areas of thunderstorm activity near the equator and the latitudes of the auroral oval. The TGS instrument is a scintillation gamma-ray spectrometer that performs measurements in the range from 50 keV to 10 MeV. It consists of 4 modules representing position-sensitive detectors based on 64 detecting pixels with size 10 mm x 10 mm x 20 mm, viewed by SiPM semiconductor photodetectors. The device will generate data both in the traditional monitoring format, which contains counting rates in several energy channels, and in the event by event data format, which allows recording the flash time profile with microsecond accuracy. It is necessary for studying TGFs with a characteristic duration of ~200 microseconds. The expected daily data volume of ~100 MB will allow detailed information to be transmitted to Earth with simultaneous measurements by all instruments.