DarkNESS: A skipper-CCD NanoSatellite for Dark Matter Searches
Phoenix Alpine, Samriddhi Bhatia, Ana M. Botti, Brenda A. Cervantes-Vergara, Claudio R. Chavez, Fernando Chierchie, Alex Drlica-Wagner, Rouven Essig, Juan Estrada, Erez Etzion, Roni Harnik, Terry Kim, Michael Lembeck, Qi Lim, Bernard J. Rauscher, Nathan Saffold, Javier Tiffenberg, Sho Uemura, Hailin Xu
arXiv:2505.16981v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: The Dark matter Nanosatellite Equipped with Skipper Sensors (DarkNESS) deploys a recently developed skipper-CCD architecture with sub-electron readout noise in low Earth orbit (LEO) to investigate potential signatures of dark matter (DM). The mission addresses two interaction channels: electron recoils from strongly interacting sub-GeV DM and X-rays produced through decaying DM. Orbital observations avoid attenuation that limits ground-based measurements, extending sensitivity reach for both channels. The mission proceeds toward launch following laboratory validation of the instrument. A launch opportunity has been secured through Firefly Aerospace’s DREAM 2.0 program, awarded to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This will constitute the first use of skipper-CCDs in space and evaluate their suitability for low-noise X-ray and single-photon detection in future space observatories.arXiv:2505.16981v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: The Dark matter Nanosatellite Equipped with Skipper Sensors (DarkNESS) deploys a recently developed skipper-CCD architecture with sub-electron readout noise in low Earth orbit (LEO) to investigate potential signatures of dark matter (DM). The mission addresses two interaction channels: electron recoils from strongly interacting sub-GeV DM and X-rays produced through decaying DM. Orbital observations avoid attenuation that limits ground-based measurements, extending sensitivity reach for both channels. The mission proceeds toward launch following laboratory validation of the instrument. A launch opportunity has been secured through Firefly Aerospace’s DREAM 2.0 program, awarded to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This will constitute the first use of skipper-CCDs in space and evaluate their suitability for low-noise X-ray and single-photon detection in future space observatories.