ISRO Chairmain

ISRO Chairmain 

(1963 - till date)

1.       Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (1963-1972)

Dr. Sarabhai was considered as the Father of the Indian space program; He was a great institution builder and established or helped to establish a large number of institutions in diverse fields. He was instrumental in establishing the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad : after returning from Cambridge to an independent India in 1947, he persuaded charitable trusts controlled by his family and friends to endow a research institution near home in Ahmedabad. Thus, Vikram Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad on November 11, 1947. He was only 28 at that time. Sarabhai was a creator and cultivator of institutions and PRL was the first step in that direction. Vikram Sarabhai served of PRL from 1966-1971. 

He was also Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He along with other Ahmedabad-based industrialists played a major role in the creation of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. 

Some of the most well-known institutions established by Dr. Sarabhai are:

1.    Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad 

2.    Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad 

3.    Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad 

4.    Darpan Academy for Performing Arts, Ahmedabad (along with his wife) 

5.    Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuramm 

6.    Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad (This institution came into existence after merging six institutions/centres established by Sarabhai) 

7.    Faster Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam 

8.    Varaiable Energy Cyclotron Project, Calcutta 

9.    Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad 

10.     Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Jaduguda, Bihar 

Indian Space Program

·               The establishment of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was one of his greatest achievements. He successfully convinced the government of the importance of a space programme for a developing country like India after the Russian Sputnik launch. 

·               Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, widely regarded as the father of India's nuclear science program, supported Dr. Sarabhai in setting up the first rocket launching station in India. This center was established at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the coast of the Arabian Sea, primarily because of its proximity to the equator. After a remarkable effort in setting up the infrastructure, personnel, communication links, and launch pads, the inaugural flight was launched on November 21, 1963 with a sodium vapour payload.

·               As a result of Dr. Sarabhai's dialogue with NASA in 1966, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was launched during July 1975 - July 1976 (when Dr.Sarabhai was no more).

·               Dr. Sarabhai started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian Satellite. As a result, the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian Cosmodrome. 

·               Dr. Sarabhai was very interested in science education and founded a Community Science Centre at Ahmedabad in 1966. Today, the Centre is called the Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre. 

2.       Prof. M G K Menon (Jan –Sep 1972)

·         Prof. M G K Menon, is presently Advisor in the Department of Space/ Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 

·         He is President of Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta (1990- ).

·         Prof. Menon has been done Scientific Work in Cosmic Rays, Particle Physics. 
Distinguished for investigations in the field of cosmic ray studies and in particular on the high-energy inter-actions of elementary particles. 

3.       Prof. Satish Dhawan (1972-1984)

·         Prof. Satish Dhawan (25 September 1920–3 January 2002) was an Indian rocket scientist who was born in Srinagar, India and educated in India and the United States.

·         He is considered by the Indian scientific community to be the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India and one of the most eminent researchers in the field of turbulence and boundary layers. 

·         He succeeded Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of the Indian space programme, as Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1972. He was also the Chairman of the Space Commission and Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Space.

·         Prof. Satish Dhawan carried out pioneering experiments in rural education, remote sensing and satellite communications. His efforts led to operational systems like INSAT- a telecommunications satellite, IRS - the Indian Remote Sensing satellite and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that placed India in the league of space faring nations.

·         Following his death in 2002, the Indian satellite launch centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, located about 100 km north of Chennai in South India was renamed as the Prof. Satish DhawanSpace Centre.

4.       Prof. U.R Rao (1984-1994)

·         Prof U R Rao, is an internationally renowned space scientist who has made original contributions to the development of space technology in India and its extensive application to communications and remote sensing of natural resources. 

·         Convinced of the imperative need to use space technology for rapid development, Prof. Rao undertook the responsibility for the establishment of satellite technology in India in 1972. Under his guidance, beginning with the first Indian satellite 'Aryabhata' in 1975, over 18 satellites were designed and launched for providing communication, remote sensing and meteorological services. 

·         After taking charge as Chairman, Space Commission and Secretary, Department of Space in 1984, Prof. Rao accelerated the development of rocket technology, resulting in the successful launch of ASLV rocket and the operational PSLV launch vehicle, which can launch 2.0 ton class of satellites into polar orbit.

·         Prof. Rao initiated the development of the geostationary launch vehicle GSLV and the development of cryogenic technology in 1991. 

5.       Dr. K Kasturirangan (1994-2003)

·        Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan has steered the Indian Space programme gloriously for over 9 years as Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation,  Space Commission and Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Space, before laying down his office on August 27, 2003.

·        He was earlier the Director of ISRO Satellite Centre, where he oversaw the activities related to the development of new generation spacecraft, Indian National Satellite (INSAT-2) and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS-1A & 1B) as well as scientific satellites.

·        He was also the Project Director for India's first two experimental earth observation satellites, BHASKARA-I & II and subsequently was responsible for overall direction of the first operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A. 

·         Under his leadership, as Chairman, ISRO, the space programme has witnessed several major milestones including the successful launching and operationalisation of the India's prestigious launch vehicle, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and more recently, the first successful flight testing of the all important Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). 

·         Further, he has also overseen the design, development and launching of the world's best civilian satellites, IRS-1C and 1D, realization of the second generation and initiation of third generation INSAT satellites, besides launching ocean observation satellites IRS-P3/P4. These efforts have put India as a pre-eminent space-faring nation among the handful of six countries that have major space programmes.

6.       Shri G.Madhavan Nair (2003-2009)

·         Shri G Madhavan Nair was born on October 31,1943 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He joined Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in 1967. Since then, he has held various positions posting illustrious milestones on his way to the position of Chairman ISRO.

·         During his tenure of six years as Chairman, ISRO/Secretary, DOS, 25 successful missions were accomplished i.e., 

1.    INSAT-3E,

2.    RESOURCESAT-1,

3.    EDUSAT,

4.    CARTOSAT-1,

5.    HAMSAT-1,

6.    INSAT-4A,

7.    PSLV-C5,

8.    GSLV-F1,

9.    PSLV-C6,

10.   CARTOSAT-2,

11.   INSAT-4B,

12.   SRE-1,

13.   PSLV-C7,

14.   PSLV-C8,

15.   GSLV-F04,

16.   INSAT-4CR,

17.   PSLV-C10,

18.   CARTOSAT-2A,

19.   IMS-1,

20.   PSLV-C9,

21.   CHANDRAYAAN-1, 

22.   PSLV-C11,

23.   PSLV-12, 

24.   PSLV-C14 and

25.   OCEANSAT-2. 

·         He has taken initiatives towards development of futuristic technologies to enhance the space systems capabilities as well as to reduce the cost of access to space. He has given major thrust for evolving application programmes such as tele-education and telemedicine for meeting the needs of society at large. 

·         As on today, more than 31,000 classrooms have been connected under the EDUSAT network and telemedicine is extended to 315 hospitals - 269 in remote/rural/district hospitals including 10 mobile units and 46 super speciality hospitals. 

·         He has initiated schemes for Village Resource Centres through satellite connectivity which aims at improving the quality of life of the poor people in the villages. More than 430 VRCs are facilitating access to spatial information on important aspects like land use/land cover, soil and ground water prospects and enable the farmers in taking important decisions based on their query. 

·         VRCs also enable online interaction between the local farmers and agricultural scientists. It also provides information of many governmental schemes, farming system, action plans based on weather, community specific advice on soil and water conservation, etc.

7.       Dr. K. Radhakrishnan (2009 to..)

·         Dr. K. Radhakrishnan; the current Chairman of Space Commission, Secretary, Department of Space, Government of India and Chairman of ISRO;

·         Dr. Radhakrishnan was born on 29 August, 1949 at Irinjalakuda, Kerala. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from Kerala University (1970), completed his PGDM from IIM Bangalore (1976) and was awarded Doctorate for his thesis titled “Some Strategies for Indian Earth Observation System” from IIT Kharagpur (2000).

·         Starting his career as an Avionics Engineer in 1971 at ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum.