POEMMA-Balloon with Radio: A multi-messenger, multi-detector balloon payload
Abstract
A review of the current status of the field of Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) including a summary of remaining open questions was presented in the white paper "Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays: at the Intersection of the Cosmic and Energy Frontiers" (Astropart. Phys. 147 (2023) 102794; arXiv:2205.05845). The authors concluded that two types of next-generation detectors are needed to answer these questions: high-accuracy instruments and detectors that maximize exposure at the highest energies. The Probe Of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA), a proposed dual-satellite observatory, exemplifies the latter class and is designed to increase statistics of the highest-energy cosmic rays and to detect very-high-energy neutrinos following multi-messenger alerts. POEMMA-Balloon with Radio (PBR) implements a compact, balloon-borne version of the POEMMA concept, adapted for a Super-Pressure Balloon flight from Wanaka, New Zealand, with an expected campaign exceeding 20 days. PBR couples a wide field-of-view Schmidt telescope and a hybrid optical focal surface with a dedicated radio instrument to deliver simultaneous, complementary measurements of extensive air showers. The mission will validate the fluorescence detection strategy from space and raise technology readiness for a POEMMA-like space mission by observing UHECR-induced fluorescence light from suborbital altitudes, obtaining the first simultaneous optical Cherenkov and radio observations of high-altitude horizontal air showers above the cosmic-ray knee (E>3PeV), enabling energy-spectrum and composition studies at the PeV scale, and performing follow-ups of multi-messenger alerts to search for very-high-energy neutrinos via upward-going air showers. This paper summarizes the PBR payload and its expected performance.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2601.19997,
title = {POEMMA-Balloon with Radio: A multi-messenger, multi-detector balloon payload},
author = {J. Adams and J. Alfaro and D. Allard and P. Alldredge and R. Aloisio and R. Ammendola and A. Anastasio and L. Anchordoqui and D. Badoni and J. Baláž and B. Baret and L. Bar-On and M. Battisti and R. Bellotti and M. Bertaina and M. Betts and S. Blin and M. Boezio and P. Bořil and J. Brague and I. Buckland and J. Burton Heibges and F. S. Cafagna and P. Cao and J. Caraca and R. Caruso and M. Casolino and K. Černý and N. Cordrey and A. Creusot and A. Cummings and P. Degarate and C. De Santis and A. DiGiovanni and B. J. DiLella A. DiSalvo and J. Eser and S. Ferrarese and G. Filippatos and W. Finch and J. Ford and C. Fornaro and A. Fox-Smith and A. Froid and P. Gálvez Molina and S. Garbolino and D. Garg and B. Gockel and C. Guepin and A. Haungs and T. Heibges and J. Hicks and J. Hinkel and J. Krizmanic and L. Kupari and E. H. Lenzing and F. Liberatori and S. Mackovjak and D. Mandát and M. Manfrin and A. Marcelli and L. Marcelli and G. Masciantonio and V. Masone and E. Mayotte and E. Mentzell and A. Meli and M. Mese and S. Meyer and M. Mignone and M. Miller and M. Mongelli and J. Moses and E. Msihid and R. Munini and M. Murdock and A. Novikov and S. O'Brien and A. V. Olinto and Y. Onel and G. Osteria and B. Panico and E. Parizot and G. Passeggio and T. Paul and M. Pech and K. Penalo Castillo and F. Perfetto and C. Petta and P. Picozza and L. Piotrowski and Z. Plebaniak and H. Qureshi and E. Reali and M. H. Reno and M. Ricci and E. Ricci and A. Rivetti and A. Roy and F. Sarazin and V. Scherini and P. Schovánek and F. G. Schroeder and V. Scotti and C. Shay and A. Sotgiu and R. Sparvoli and B. Stillwell and I. Strhárský and J. Szabelski and Y. Takizawa and R. Torres and R. Triggiani and C. Trimarelli and C. Tussey and J. Tutt and M. Unger and T. Venters and M. Venugopal and P. von Ballmoos and L. Wanner and D. Washington and R. Webb and A. Weindl and L. Wiencke and S. Wissel and A. Yuan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.19997},
year = {2026}
}