HXMT satellite for space hard X-ray observation

Space hard X-ray in the energy band from 10Kev to 250KeV is very important to the research of high energy astrophysical processes, especially some of the fundamental problems in astrophysics. Due to imaging difficulty in the hard X-ray band, Observations made over this band is comparatively less than other bands such as soft X-ray and gamma -ray. Up to now, there has been no hard X ray all sky- survey of high sensitivity. Based on the Direct Demodulation imaging method recently developed, the Hard X- ray Modulation Telescope(HXMT) mission is proposed under the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China. The scientific objective of HXMT mission is to realize the first hard X-ray all sky survey of high sensitivy and angular resolution in the world, and to present the first detailed sky map of hard X r a y - distribution. In this article, the physical basis, the imaging principle and the basic structure of HXMT are briefly introduced. The expected angular resolution of observation and position accuracy of radiant source are 2' and 0.2' respectively. Based on the analysis of the mission requirement of HXMT, the mission design of HXMT satellite is presented in which the concept of integrative design approach is presented and implemented. The design of spacecraft subsystems such as strcuture,C&DH and energy are also introduced. To meet the high precision demand of the attitude determination of HXMT, a new Attitude Determination &Control Subsystem(ADCS) scheme is presented in which the Microminiature Inertial Measurement Unit(MIMU) is employed as one of the key attitude sensors. Combined with star tracker, the expected attitude measurement accuracy is 0.01° in the normal mission mode. Based on all these thoughts, the ADCS is analyzed and its general design is presented in the paper. As the first chinese space hard X-ray observatory, the design approach of HXMT satellite is also helpful for other space exploration missions such as solar activity inspection etc.