  We present the Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Object Monitor
(SVOM), a future satellite mission for Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) studies, developed
in cooperation between the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA), the Chinese
Academy of Science (CAS), the French Space Agency (CNES) and French research
institutes. The scientific objectives of the SVOM GRB studies cover their
classification (GRB diversity and unity of the model), their physics (particle
acceleration and radiation mechanisms), their progenitors, cosmological studies
(host galaxies, star formation history, re-ionization, cosmological
parameters), and fundamental physics (origin of cosmic rays, Lorentz
invariance, gravitational wave sources). From 2015 on, SVOM will provide fast
and accurate localizations of all known types of GRB, and determine the
temporal and spectral properties of the GRB emission, thanks to a set of four
onboard instruments. The trigger system of the coded-mask telescope ECLAIRs
onboard SVOM images the sky in the 4-120 keV energy range, in order to detect
and localize GRB in its 2 sr-wide field of view. The low-energy threshold of
ECLAIRs is well suited for the detection of highly red-shifted GRB. The
high-energy coverage is extended up to 5 MeV thanks to a non-imaging gamma-ray
spectrometer. GRB alerts are sent in real-time to the ground observers
community, and a spacecraft slew is performed in order to place the GRB within
the narrow fields of view of a soft X-ray telescope and a visible-band
telescope, to refine the GRB position and study its early afterglow.
Ground-based robotic telescopes and wide-angle cameras complement the onboard
instruments. A large fraction of GRB will have redshift determinations, thanks
to an observing strategy optimized to facilitate follow-up observations by
large ground-based spectroscopic telescopes.
