IIT Bombay is set to lead Mission Daksha, a pioneering Indian initiative to launch two high-energy space telescopes aimed at studying gamma-ray bursts and other explosive cosmic phenomena. The mission, developed in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and leading research institutes, is expected to position India at the forefront of high-energy astrophysics.
Mission Daksha will deploy twin satellites in near-equatorial orbit at an altitude of around 650 kilometres, placed on opposite sides of the Earth. This configuration will allow near-continuous monitoring of the sky, ensuring unprecedented coverage of high-energy transient events such as gamma-ray bursts, electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources, and neutron star mergers.
Each satellite will carry detector packages covering a wide energy range from 1 keV to over 1 MeV. The instruments include Silicon Drift Detectors for low energy (1–30 keV), Cadmium Zinc Telluride detectors for medium energy (20–200 keV), and NaI scintillators with Silicon Photomultipliers for high energy (100 keV to >1 MeV). The medium energy detectors are considered the mission’s workhorses, with a median effective area of 1,300 cm² and sensitivity on par with global facilities such as NASA’s Swift-BAT.
The five-year mission aims to record thousands of gamma-ray bursts and several high-energy counterparts to gravitational wave events. Scientists note that the mission’s ability to measure polarisation of cosmic radiation will provide deeper insights into the geometry and physics of gamma-ray sources.
Mission Daksha builds on the legacy of India’s AstroSat, which has detected more than 600 gamma-ray bursts since its launch in 2015. With significantly higher sensitivity and sky coverage, Daksha is designed to surpass current international missions, including NASA’s Fermi and Swift observatories.
Professor Varun Bhalerao of IIT Bombay, who is leading the project, said the mission reflects India’s growing capacity in cutting-edge astrophysics. The collaboration also involves the Physical Research Laboratory, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Raman Research Institute, and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
If successful, Mission Daksha will mark a major advancement in India’s space science programme, offering global researchers critical data on some of the most powerful and mysterious events in the universe.
