Vikram Sarabhai,
the pioneer of India’s space research programme, was born on August 12, 1919.  Thursday is the scientist’s 102nd birth
anniversary. Sarabhai, who was given charge of Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) in 1962, is credited with putting India’s first satellite “Aryabhata”
in 1975 from Russia.

Sarabhai, who
consistently stressed on the importance of India’s participation in space
programmes which were dominated by Russia and the United States during his
lifetime, consistently spoke of the need to develop satellite-based remote
sensing of India’s natural resources. Thus, his birthday is also celebrated as
National Remote Sensing Day in India.

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Vikram Sarabhai
was responsible for the setting up of several resilient institutions including
the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad (IIM-A), the Nehru Institute of
Development, also in Ahmedabad, and the Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research (AITRA)
and Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT).

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Moreover, Vikram
Sarabhai and his wife Mrinalini Sarabhai together founded the Darpana Academy
of Performing Arts. Other projects and institutions set up by Sarabhai include:
Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) in Kalpakkam, Variable Energy Cyclotron
Project in Kolkata, Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) in Hyderabad
and Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in Jadugoda, Jharkhand.

Born on August 12,
1919, Sarabhai belonged to a famous industrialist family who were deeply
invested in India’s independence struggle. He married classical dancer
Mrinalini Devi in 1942. Vikram Sarabhai did his doctorate from Cambridge
University. His dissertation was, “Cosmic Ray Investigations in Tropical Latitudes”.

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Quite
unfortunately, ISRO launched a satellite dubbed “India’s eye in the sky”, the GISAT-1
Earth observation satellite (EOS) on his birth anniversary, but the mission
suffered a setback due to a performance anomaly in the cryogenic stage of the
rocket moments after the launch.

GISAT-1 or the
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was launched from Satish Dhawan
Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. This was the first time
an Indian space launch was unsuccessful in four years after a success run of 14
space launches.