The γ-ray large-area space telescope:: An astro-particle mission to explore the high-energy γ-ray sky

The gamma-ray large-area space telescope (GLAST) is an astro-particle mission that will study the mostly unexplored, high-energy (20 MeV-300 GeV) spectrum of photons coming from active sources or diffused in the Universe, with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity. The large field-of-view (FoV) and the broad energy of the GLAST large-area telescope (LAT) are crucial for multiwavelength campaigns and overlapping observations with ACTs. The construction of the GLAST silicon tracker, with its 83 m(2) of silicon-strip detectors, by far the largest ever built for a space mission, is now completed. Integration and tests of all the subsystems of the telescope into the satellite will occur during 2006. The launch is scheduled by NASA for October 2007. We report on the tracker design concept, the status of its assembly and on the final results of tests obtained from the full system. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.