The High Energy cosmic Radiation Detection facility (HERD) is a module being built with a planned launch in 2027. It will be installed on China’s Space Station as part of the Chinese Cosmic Lighthouse Program. It is intended to serve as a dark matter detector, a cosmic ray instrument, and observatory for high-energy gamma rays. The HERD detector will be launched separately from the space station and installed by a combination of robotic and space walk activities. Once installed, it would be a permanent part of the station, mounted with a zenithal pointing (upward away from the Earth) with an anticipated life span of ten years. The instrument can be upgraded or, if necessary, replaced during its lifespan.

Mission Characteristics

Payload

Science Highlights

The HERD mission intends to study extreme high-energy gamma rays, searching in particular for a “gamma-ray smoking gun” spectral signature anticipated from the annihilation signature of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), a candidate dark matter particle candidate. It will also continue to study the steepening of the cosmic ray spectrum at or around 1 PeV, a known and unresolved issue in current cosmic-ray physics. It will also provide wide field-of-view guidance to narrow field ground-based instruments, particularly as the existing Fermi and Agile observatories are decommissioned during HERD’s anticipated operations period. Finally, it would will make additional discoveries by opening a new window in extremely energetic gamma-rays beyond prior experiments.