On a sadder note: U.R. Rao, Former ISRO leader and main protagonist behind ASLV and PSLV dies at 85

by | Jul 28, 2017 | History, India, India

Professor Udupi Ramachandra Rao (aka U.R. Rao), the former head of the Indian Space Research Organisation, which he lead from 1984 to 1994, has passed away at the age of 85.

U.R. Rao, was a space physicist by training who specialised in cosmic ray research at MIT in USA, before later becoming the head of ISRO. He was the main driver behind two of its most successful programmes. He was the instigator of India’s indigenous ASLV launch vehicle programme which led to the highly successful PSLV rocket and later GSLV – although for a time that programme suffered from a late withdrawal of Russian cryogenic technology for its upper stage.

Rao was also the driver behind India’s communications satellite fleet named INSAT.

A Indian PSLV-XL lifts off carrying CARTOSAT-2E and 30 other satellites. Courtesy of ISRO.

 

It was during his time as ISRO head that India was denied the originally promised Russian cryogenic technology for the GSLV’s upper third stage and it had to develop its own.

U.R.Rao, has won several honours and is even inducted into the “Satellite Hall of Fame” in 2013 and to the International Astronautical Federation’s “Hall of Fame” last year.

We give our salute to U.R. Rao and our condolences to his family and friends.

Post Script: We also give our tribute to film actor and playwright Sam Shepard who has passed away at the age of 73.  He started in the movie The Right Stuff (1983) which recounted the early years of NASA’s manned space programme.

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Fears mount for Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander and rover while India hangs on for a signal

Contact has been lost with India's new Vikram lunar lander and Pragyan lunar rover after they suffered a two-week long Read more

The Moon is not enough: India launches its Aditya L1 solar research probe to Sun-Earth L1

A PSLV-XL launch vehicle was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India at 0620 GMT on 02 September 2023. Read more

India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission makes history with successful Moon landing

India has become the first nation ever to land a spacecraft near the South Pole of the Moon, as well Read more

India launches PSLV-CA carrying seven satellites for Singapore (Corrected)

An Indian PSLV-CA (Core Alone) variant rocket lifted off from the Sriharikota launch site at 0101 GMT on 30 July Read more

India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander/rover mission is launched on its way to the Moon

An LVM3-2 (GSLV 3-2) rocket successfully launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission from the Sriharikota (Satish Dhawan Space Centre), India, at 0905 Read more

GSLV Mk II puts up NVS-01 navsat

An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) GSLV Mk II rocket (GSLV 2 CUSP 4) was successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Read more

PSLV-CA launches TeLEOS-2 radar sat and LUMELITE-4 cubesat plus hosted payloads on upper stage

A PSLV-CA launch vehicle (flight PSLV-C55) launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India at 0849 GMT on 22 April Read more

LMV3-2 launches 36 OneWeb satellites allowing full service

Having lost its access to space via Soyuz rockets after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, OneWeb turned to other launch providers. Read more

Violent second-stage separation triggered chain of events that prevented maiden SSLV final stage burn…but next SSLV flies OK

An investigation by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) into the failure of the maiden flight of its latest rocket, Read more

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochina25virgin galacticfalcon 9ULAFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 5RoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationBeidouawardsspaceBlue OriginSatellite broadcastingRocket LabStarlinkrussiamoonCargo Return VehicleboeingOneWebAirbus DSmarsblogISROresearchorionspaceshiptwojaxaimpacthyperboladelaymarsEutelsatdemocratrocketobamahypertextgoogle lunar prizelunarlaunchVegabarack obamaconstellationSEStourismnorthfiguresthales alenia spacespaceflightnode 2fundedRaymond LygoIntelsat2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Atlas Vromess2Elon Muskdassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiotestmissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbitinternetChina Manned Space EngineeringAriane 5SLSsts-1222010flightspace tourismNorthrop Grummancotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 4CLong March 2D/2Electronbuildspace stationaltairinternational astronautical congresssoyuz 2-1ashuttleProton MEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositeshanleybudgetrulesnew yorkAriane 6shenzhouspace shuttleatvVietnamcongressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKnew shepardInmarsatGuiana Space Centeriaccneslunar landerksclawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BILSUS Air ForceprotonTalulah RileyApollodarpaFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Kuaizhou 1AVega CSkylonAstriumeupicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatSSLElectron KSNorth KoreaAprilSNCWednesdayinterviewSea Launchfalcon50thcustomerlinkLong Marchatlantissuccessor