U.R. Rao: Father of India’s Satellite Programme

Udupi Ramachandra Rao was a space scientist. He is the man behind India’s first satellite.

What are the basic facts?

• He was born on 10 March 1932 in Adamaru, Udupi.
• He earned a bachelor’s degree from Madras University in 1951.
• He earned a master’s degree from Banaras Hindu University in 1953.
• He earned his PhD from Gujarat University in 1960.
• He died on 24 July 2017 at his home in Bengaluru.
• He was 85 years old.

What is the memory hook?

Think “born 1932, PhD 1960, died 2017”. The PhD sits halfway through his life.

He first worked abroad on cosmic-ray experiments. He came home in 1966 and moved into satellite work.

What did he do abroad?

• He was a post-doctoral fellow at MIT from 1961 to 1963.
• He was an assistant professor at the S.W. Centre for Advanced Research in Dallas from 1963 to 1966.
• He was a prime experimenter on several Pioneer and Explorer spacecraft.

What happened after he returned?

• He returned to India in 1966.
• He joined the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad.
• He led satellite technology work in India from 1972.
• He was Project Director of the Indian Scientific Satellite Project in Bangalore from 1972 to 1975.

What is the memory hook?

Think “home in 1966, satellite project in 1972”. Each step moved him closer to building hardware.

Aryabhata was India’s first satellite. A Soviet rocket launched it on 19 April 1975.

What were the launch facts?

• The Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket launched it from Kapustin Yar.
• It weighed 360 kg at launch.
• It was named after the famous Indian astronomer Aryabhata.
• It carried experiments in X-ray astronomy, aeronomy and solar physics.

How did the mission go?

• ISRO says Rao’s team built it within the stipulated time and budget.
• The team was young and had no basic infrastructure.
• A power failure halted the experiments after 4 days in orbit.
• The satellite re-entered the atmosphere in February 1992.

What is the memory hook?

Think “Soviet ride, Indian satellite”. India built the spacecraft but had no rocket to lift it yet.

Rao’s team moved from experiments to working satellites. ISRO credits him with more than 18 satellites.

Which satellites are linked to him?

• Bhaskara-1 and Bhaskara-2 were experimental remote sensing satellites.
• Bhaskara-1 was launched in 1979.
• APPLE was an experimental communication satellite.
• APPLE was launched in 1981.
• The Rohini D2 and SROSS series were also conceived under him.
• These led to the operational IRS and INSAT systems.

What did he do for INSAT?

• ISRO says he backed the indigenously built INSAT-2 series.
• This followed the mixed results of INSAT-1.
• The INSAT-1 series ran from 1982 to 1990.

What is the memory hook?

Think “Aryabhata, Bhaskara, APPLE”. Each satellite taught a lesson for the next.

He led ISRO and the Department of Space from 1984 to 1994. Rocket work grew during his time.

What happened to launch vehicles?

• He oversaw the ASLV and PSLV programmes.
• He began work on the GSLV in 1991.
• He also began work on cryogenic technology in 1991.
• ISRO says he guided the PSLV programme after early ASLV setbacks.

What else did he set up?

• He helped set up ANTRIX Corporation in 1992.
• ANTRIX is ISRO’s commercial marketing arm.
• He later chaired the Prasar Bharati Board in 2001 and 2002.

What is the memory hook?

Think “ten years, 1984 to 1994”. The decade ended with the PSLV ready to fly.

India honoured him twice with Padma awards. A US body honoured him in 2013.

Which honours are listed?

• He received the Padma Bhushan in 1976.
• He received the Padma Vibhushan in 2017.
• He was inducted into the Satellite Hall of Fame in Washington DC on 19 March 2013.
• He was the first Indian space scientist in that Hall of Fame.

What is the memory hook?

Think “Bhushan 1976, Vibhushan 2017”. The higher award came the year he died.

Four mix-ups appear again and again. Learn each pair.

What are the traps?

• Space or satellite? Vikram Sarabhai is the father of the space programme. Rao is the father of the satellite programme.
• Aryabhata or SLV-3? Aryabhata was a satellite from 1975. SLV-3 was India’s first experimental satellite launch vehicle.
• First rocket or first launch? SLV-3 flew partly successfully in August 1979. It placed the Rohini RS-1 satellite in orbit on 18 July 1980.
• Whose rocket? Aryabhata rode on a Soviet rocket, not an Indian one.

How do you remember them?

Think “Sarabhai dreamed, Rao built”. Sarabhai set the vision. Rao delivered the satellites.