India is poised to take a commanding lead in deep space exploration with the proposed launch of ‘Daksha’, a revolutionary satellite mission led by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay). Billed to house one of the world’s most powerful high-energy space telescopes, Daksha is designed to monitor a volume of space nearly five times larger than NASA’s current benchmark, the Fermi Gamma Ray Telescope.

The Daksha mission, which translates to “able” or “competent,” involves a pair of identical twin satellites orbiting the Earth on opposite sides. This strategic placement ensures nearly continuous, all-sky coverage, dramatically increasing the chances of capturing fleeting, high-energy cosmic events.

The primary scientific objectives focus on unlocking fundamental secrets of the cosmos:

• Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs): Studying these massive explosions from collapsing massive stars and the merger of black holes or neutron stars, which provide clues about the universe’s origins and evolution.
• Gravitational Wave Counterparts: The mission is uniquely positioned to rapidly detect and localize the electromagnetic ‘flash’ that accompanies gravitational wave events, offering a critical, two-pronged view of cosmic collisions.
• The Universe’s Building Blocks: Scientists believe the data collected will shed light on how heavy elements like gold and uranium were created during these super-energetic stellar deaths.

While the mission’s core focus is on astrophysical phenomena, its unprecedented sensitivity and all-sky coverage will also allow researchers to probe for highly speculative and exotic phenomena, including the potential gravitational effects of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs)—a leading candidate for Dark Matter.

Although the official scientific goals do not explicitly include the search for “aliens,” by generating the most comprehensive map of high-energy cosmic events, Daksha will inadvertently observe any extreme, transient radiation sources—natural or otherwise—making it a powerful tool for discovering and characterizing any unusual cosmic anomalies.

The ambitious project, which began in 2018, is a collaborative triumph of Indian science, led by IIT Bombay and developed in partnership with premier research institutions including the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Raman Research Institute (RRI), and the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), with critical seed funding and support from ISRO.

If granted final approval, the twin satellites could be built and deployed within three years, positioning India at the absolute forefront of high-energy astrophysics and securing its leadership role in the global race for deep space dominance.