Green light has been given to QUVIK (Quick Ultra-Violet Kilonovae Surveyor), which will become the first Czech space telescope. The scientific part of the project will be managed by astrophysicists from Masaryk University. Experts from the Czech Ministry of Transport and the European Space Agency (ESA) selected two out of seven Czech space projects proposed, one of which was QUVIK, a space telescope optimised for the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, which will focus on sources of gravitational waves that arise from collisions of black holes and neutron stars. The project will be led by the Czech Aerospace Research Centre (VZLÚ).
The scientific coordinator of the mission, Norbert Werner from the Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at Masaryk University’s (MU) Faculty of Science, who first came up with the idea of proposing a satellite with a fast repointing capability carrying a UV telescope in 2021, is enthusiastic about the project’s success. “We are incredibly happy, but it also represents a large challenge for the whole team. We have a lot of work to do andit will be a giant leap forward for us. What lies ahead will give us a great deal of experience and open up new possibilities”.
Prof. Werner went on to explain that the goal of the mission is to observe sources of gravitational waves, which were only discovered seven years ago. The bursts of gravitational waves are produced by collisions of black holes and neutron stars, which are among the most extreme events in the universe and their study is among the top scientific priorities of this decade. Werner emphasised, however, that “the telescope will serve the entire Czech and global astronomical community and we can expect breakthrough discoveries that willmake the Czech science and space industry visible worldwide”.
Astrophysicists from the MU’s Faculty of Science will lead the scientific part of the team that is preparing QUVIK. Masaryk University will also operate the satellite’s scientific operations centre. The project is led by the Czech Aerospace Research Centre (VZLÚ), in cooperation with MU, the TOPTEC research centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Plasma Physics and the company PEKASAT.
“We consider space research to be a promising area, and this project proves that we as a university have a lot to offer. I am also pleased that the output of this project will be more than abstract statistical records in publication and citation databases, and that our scientists will be contributing to the creation of a unique device that will effectively serve the international scientific community”, said MU’s Vice-Rector for Development, legislation and information technology, Radim Polčák.
“The success of the QUVIK project is a fantastic recognition of the work of our astrophysicists, and indeed the whole faculty, which has been systematically devoted to space research for a long time. The support of the Czech Ministry of Transport and the European Space Agency (ESA) will have a significant positive impact on the quality and the worldwide visibility of cutting-edge research in Brno", added the Dean of the Faculty of Science Tomáš Kašparovský.
The project, which will be financed through Czech funds, will meet the high international standards of ESA and is intended to support the involvement of Czech scientists and industry in space projects. The selection of the QUVIK and AMBIC projects, both led by the VZLÚ, was made by a committee at the Czech Ministry of Transport, which manages the Framework Project for implementing the support provided by ESA for space activities from the Czech Republic. The selected missions, which have a budget of around €30 million each, are both scheduled to launch in 2028.
Ondřej Rohlík, manager of the Framework Project through which the Czech Republic is implementing these ambitious missions, highlighted the preparedness, uniqueness and potential of the selected projects in a press release of the Czech Ministry of Transport. “ESA positively evaluated bothprojects, especially the careful development of user, technical and scientific requirements, the initial mission proposal and its risk management and treatment. The committee also positively evaluated compliance of the proposed projects with the goals of the National Space Plan, especially the impact on Czech space ecosystem development and visibility of the Czech Republic around the world. Other valuable aspects were the commercial applicability of the technologies that will be needed for these missions, the building of ground infrastructure for future space missions and the more intensive use of the opportunities that space activities bring”.
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