BlackCAT

BlackCAT
Mission typeSpace telescope (Astrophysics)
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID2026-004?
SATCAT no.673??
Mission duration14 months (planned)
9 months, 25 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerPenn State
Start of mission
Launch date11 January 2026, 13:44:50 UTC
RocketFalcon 9 (booster 1097)
Launch siteVandenberg Space Launch Complex 4
ContractorSpaceX
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeDawn/dusk sun-synchronous orbit
Altitude500 to 600 km

BlackCAT (Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope) is a small X-ray astronomy space telescope in the form of a 6U CubeSat developed by NASA and Penn State. Its objective is to observe gamma ray bursts, counterparts to multi-messenger events, and other high energy transient astronomical events. The spacecraft launched on 11 January 2026 on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission "Twilight" together with two other astronomy mission by NASA: Pandora and SPARCS. The spacecraft is expected to undergo two months of in-orbit commissioning followed by a one year science mission. Its orbital lifetime is expected to be approximately 10 years.

References

  1. ↑ "Current Projects – The Falcone Group". sites.psu.edu. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  2. ↑ "Research Portal". laro.lanl.gov. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  3. ↑ Kulu, Erik. "BlackCAT". Nanosats Database. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  4. ↑ Tomaswick, Andy (2025-01-07). "A CubeSat Mission Will Detect X-rays from GRBs and Black-Hole Mergers". Universe Today. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  5. ↑ Colosimo, Joseph; Falcone, Abraham; Team, The BlackCAT (2025). "The BlackCAT CubeSat Wide-Field X-Ray Transient Monitor". American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #245. 245: 144.01D. Bibcode:2025AAS...24514401C.
  6. ↑ Falcone, Abraham D.; Wages, Mitchell J.; Colosimo, Joseph M.; Ashcroft, Ian T.; Betts, Michael; Bevidas, William A.; Bortree, Brynn; Burrows, David N.; Catlin, Zachary E.; Deppe, Sierra; Emeigh, Timothy R.; Forstmeier, Thomas; Fox, Derek B.; Gremling, Killian M.; Hartmann, Dennis; Hossen, Md. Arman; Nizam, Kadri M.; Oneill, Laurel L.; Palmer, David M.; Raytsis, Abigail A.; Stone, Lukas R.; Washington, Daniel; Zugger, Michael E. (2025). Siegmund, Oswald H.; Hoadley, Keri (eds.). "The BlackCAT CubeSat: a soft x-ray coded aperture telescope". Proceedings Volume 13625, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXIV: 14. doi:10.1117/12.3065703. ISBN 978-1-5106-9158-2.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  7. ↑ Falcone, Abraham D.; Colosimo, Joseph M.; Wages, Mitchell; Betts, Michael; Bevidas, William A.; Bortree, Brynn; Buffington, Jacob C.; Burrows, David N.; Catlin, Zachary E.; Emeigh, Timothy; Forstmeier, Thomas; Fox, Derek B.; Gremling, Killian; Hossen, Md. Arman; Nizam, Kadri (2024-08-21). "BlackCAT: An upcoming soft x-ray coded aperture telescope on a 6U CubeSat". In Den Herder, Jan-Willem A.; Nakazawa, Kazuhiro; Nikzad, Shouleh (eds.). Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Yokohama, Japan: SPIE. p. 91. doi:10.1117/12.3020370. ISBN 978-1-5106-7509-4.
  8. ↑ "NASA's Pandora Satellite, CubeSats to Explore Exoplanets, Beyond - NASA Science". 2026-01-09. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  9. ↑ "A cereal-box-sized space telescope heads for the stars | ASU News". news.asu.edu. 2026-01-08. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  10. ↑ Davenport, Justin (2026-01-11). "SpaceX's Twilight rideshare mission set to fly from Vandenberg". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  11. ↑ "Twilight (Pandora & Others) | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Next Spaceflight". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  12. ↑ Foust, Jeff (2026-01-11). "NASA astrophysics, commercial satellites launch on SpaceX rideshare mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2026-01-11.
  13. ↑ Luciani 0, Massimo (2026-01-11). "A success for the launch of NASA's Pandora, BlackCAT, and SPARCS astronomical missions". Retrieved 2026-01-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Colosimo, Joseph M.; Fox, Derek B.; Falcone, Abraham D.; Palmer, David M.; Hancock, Frederic; Betts, Michael; Bevidas, William A.; Buffington, Jacob C.; Burrows, David N. (2024-10-01). "Expected Gamma-Ray Burst Detection Rates and Redshift Distributions for the BlackCAT CubeSat Mission". The Astrophysical Journal. 969 (2): 138. arXiv:2405.10872. Bibcode:2024ApJ...969..138C. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad4f8b.