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Prem Shanker Goel

Making of a
Satellite Centre
The Genesis of ISRO’s URSC
Making of a Satellite Centre
Prem Shanker Goel

Making of a Satellite Centre

The Genesis of ISRO’s URSC
Prem Shanker Goel
National Institute of Advanced Studies
INAE Satish Dhawan Chair of Engineering
Eminence
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

ISBN 978-981-16-3479-6 ISBN 978-981-16-3480-2 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3480-2

© Indian National Academy of Engineering 2022

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
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protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
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the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
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claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
Prolog

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is a unique organisation. It has a culture

which is unique, and there is no other way to describe it except to say it is the ISRO
culture. The Satellite Program of ISRO has done wonderful things, like providing
confidence to the country with the launch of Aryabhata satellite on 19 April 1975,
that we can do complex technology, when even safety pins were being imported into
the country. It was a simple satellite by today’s standard, but a big technology leap
for the country in the seventies. Pokaran-1 in 1974 and Aryabhata in 1975 were two
technology events that gave Indian scientists and engineers confidence to venture
into new areas, which were not so far pursued in India.
The satellite technology growth has been slow but consistent, towards complexity,
modernisation and professionalism. While URSC has built 104 satellites (as on Dec
31, 2019), a few missions have been landmark missions that opened the pathway for
the future. Aryabhata, Bhaskara-1, APPLE, IRS-1A, INSAT-2A, IRS-P3, MetSat
(Kalpana), INSAT-2E, CARTO-1, SRE, TES and IRNSS are some of those land-
marks. Each one raised the bar in technology development and mission management.
Chandrayaan-1, which attracted the imagination of the country, was another great
achievement of mission management. Mangalyaan further raised the capability to
manage a mission beyond the earth’s gravity. Now we have a robust technology base
and operational space systems for Remote Sensing, Communication and space-based
navigation and space science. Chandrayaan-2 is yet another advanced technology and
mission management demonstration. Though the Lander Vikram had hard landing
very near to the pre-designated spot on the Moon, it was a remarkable mission in tech-
nology development and mission management. Gaganyaan (The Manned Mission)
on its way is another technology challenge and dream of an aspiring nation.
This book is the story of people behind satellites, narrated through Satellite Centre
(ISAC or URSC), which represents satellite activity as a living organism. It is the story
of remarkable people, a few named and many unnamed, who created and nurtured
this body, which I believe has conscious of its own. Like any other living body, it has
gone through its ups and downs but has always bounced back with full energy after
every hiccup.
As this story is of people, narrated by an individual who was one amongst them,
it is likely to be biased in impressions and interpretations. I have, however, tried to
v
vi Prolog

be as fair as possible towards my colleagues, each one of whom has contributed to

the growth of ISAC. But there may be some omissions, largely because of fading
memories or lack of my exposure to certain instances. I sincerely apologise for any
such omission.

Bengaluru, India Prem Shanker Goel

Acknowledgements

The inspiration to write this book came from Dr. B. N. Suresh, a colleague and a
friend who had completed his book on design of launch vehicles and wanted me
to write a book related to the evolution of satellites in India. I thank him for his
continued persistence. Writing this book on Making of the Satellite Centre gave me
an opportunity to recall my association with Prof U. R. Rao and live those moments
again. I am grateful to him for those wonderful memories. There are hundreds of
persons who have made their contributions in this journey, some alive and many
passed away; each deserves a big thank you, whether captured in the book or not.
Dr. Surendra Pal and Mr. V. R. Katti reviewed the manuscript and made numerous
suggestions, particularly in recalling the names and specific contributions of some
of the persons that I missed in my first draft. I thank both of my colleagues for their
patience and contributions. Mr. Guruprasad helped me with the chronology of events
and in capturing photos of important milestones.
Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) decided to make this book a
part of their publication and it was a big morale booster. I thank the engineering
academy for all the support.

Prem Shanker Goel

vii
About This Book

This book is all about the people who made ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), what is U
R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) today, as seen by one who lived through initial years
of the “Centre in the making” and watched things happening, in addition to making
his own humble contributions.
It was a dream of one man, shared by many and contributed by many more, Prof
U R Rao will live as long as the Satellite Centre exists. The landmark journey from
a small Division (Satellite Systems Division, SSD) of the then Space Science and
Technology Centre, SSTC (now Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, VSSC), with a staff
of fewer than 10 in 1970 has grown to more than two hundred times as the second
biggest Centre of ISRO. Professor Rao is to URSC what Prof Sarabhai is to ISRO.
Professor Rao not only gave the vision but also inculcated the work culture of ISAC
and built the organisation. His passion for space, concern for Indian science and love
for ISAC are difficult to describe in words. It is remarkable that he transferred that
spirit and commitment to dozens of youngsters, who helped in making the Centre
and preserving those values for decades to come.
It is all about wonderful work of wonderful people, where passion drives and
nation thrives.

ix
Contents

1 The Early Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 The ISSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3 The Experimental Era of Spaced-Based Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1 Beginning of Remote Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2 Experimenting with Satellite Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.3 Exploiting an Opportunity—APPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4 APPLE Enabled the Creation of ISAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4 The Early 80s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.1 INSAT-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.2 SLV-3, ASLV and Space Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.3 PTU to LPSC Bangalore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 PSLV and ISAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5 The Operational Space Services Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.1 The Remote Sensing Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 A Permanent Home at NAL Campus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.3 IRS-1A Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.4 The Satellite Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6 The Foundation TEAM, ISAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.1 Mechanical Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2 Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.3 TT&C Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.4 AOCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6.5 Integration and Ground Check Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.6 Spacecraft Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6.7 Technical Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
6.8 Quality Assurance (QA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
6.9 Technical Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

xi
xii Contents

7 Maturing of the Satellite Centre: The 1990s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

7.1 Creation of LEOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.2 Space-Based Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.3 The Journey in Mid-90s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.4 IRS-P3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
7.5 IRS-1C/D (Resource Sat-1 and 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.6 IRS-P4/ Oceansat 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.7 Maturing Satellite Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
8 Indian Satellite Navigation Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
8.1 GAGAN and IRNSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
8.2 The Space Shuttle and Solar Power Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
9 From Technology to Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
9.1 The Fast Track Satellite, INSAT-3B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
9.2 ISAC Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.3 TES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
9.4 METSAT (Kalpana) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
9.5 SRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
9.6 ISAC’s Role as Lead Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
9.7 TDPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
9.8 Capacity Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
9.9 Satellite Production and Component Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
9.10 Cultural Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
9.11 RISAT-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
9.12 Cartosat-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
9.13 New Campus for ISAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
9.14 Chandrayaan 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
9.15 Lack of Linkages with the Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
9.16 Yet Another Change of Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
9.17 Widening the Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
9.18 Learning to Administrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
10 Looking from a Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
10.1 Space for National Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
11 The Journey Continues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
About the Author

Dr. Prem Shanker Goel pursued his B.E. in Elec-

trical Engineering from University of Jodhpur, M.E.
in Applied Electronics and Servomechanism from
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and Ph.D.
from Bangalore University, India. He developed spin
axis orientation system Bhaskara I & II satellites,
magnetic control for spinning Rohini series satellites,
momentum biased 3-axis control system for APPLE,
zero momentum biased 3-axis control system for IRS,
and V configuration momentum biased attitude control
system for highly stabilized INSAT-2. He developed
very agile control system with step and stare capability
for spot imaging mission TES and guided the evolution
of reentry capability through SRE mission. He was
President of Indian National Academy of Engineering
(INAE) and Vice President, Aeronautical Society of
India, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor
at ISRO. Dr. Goel was awarded the prestigious Indian
civilian Award Padma Shree in 2001. He received
several other awards including Distinguished Scientist
Award of ISRO and lifetime achievement award of
INAE. He is Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences,
Bangalore; National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad;
Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi,
among others. Currently, Dr. Goel is Honorary Distin-
guished Professor at ISRO HQ, Chairman, Comprehen-
sive Technical Review Committee, GEOSAT Program,
and Chairing Apex Committee for planning Commu-
nication, Remote Sensing and Navigation satellites of
ISRO. Dr. Goel has contributed significantly to mission
planning for remote sensing, communication, and
scientific missions and authored over hundred research
papers in referred journals and conferences.
xiii
Chapter 1
The Early Days

On 17 August 1970, I arrived at Thiruvananthapuram (then Trivandrum) railway

station and hired an auto straight to Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC),
ISRO, with baggage, from the comfortable campus of the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, after completing my M.E. formalities just the previous day. The journey
to the city was more comfortable as a senior engineer of SSTC gave me a lift in his car.
I was asked to join Satellite Systems Division (SSD) as control engineer and it was
my first disappointment. We knew Thumba (TERLS, the Thumba Equatorial Rocket
Launching Station) only for rockets and not working on rockets did not look that
fanciful. The SSD, located in the main building, had about 10 engineers, reporting to
Mr Tarsem Singh as acting Division Head. Our Division Head, Prof U R Rao, visited
SSD only during weekends, twice a month. He was conducting his research in X-ray
astronomy at PRL Ahmedabad. I was in turn asked to report to Mr R Ashiya, who
informed me that I had to work on Attitude Control System of spinning satellite,
40 kg RS-1 (Rohini Satellite 1), to be launched by SLV-3. Further, I should go to a
library and find out what to do?
TERLS was established in 1963 by Prof Vikram A. Sarabhai, for launching
sounding rockets to conduct scientific studies in the upper atmosphere and Thumba
(near Thiruvananthapuram) was chosen because it was a less-populated land along
the coast and was close to the magnetic equator. He took over as Chairman Atomic
Energy Commission after the sudden death of Prof Homi Bhabha in an air acci-
dent in 1966. With his vision for Space, Prof Sarabhai created the SSTC/ISRO in
1967 and divided the SSTC into functional divisions to make a Satellite Launch
Vehicle and also a division for making Satellites, the Satellite Systems Division
(SSD). The team at SSTC had earlier studied a few configurations of the Satellite
Launch Vehicle and the configuration No.3 with four solid stages was chosen for
taking up the development, and hence, the name SLV-3. Professor Sarabhai’s visits
as Director were short and infrequent as he was heading some 28 institutions along
with PRL (as Director). The SSTC was managed by the Technical Coordination
and Finance Committee (TCFC) comprising five senior scientists with its head by
rotation as Acting Director, in the absence of Prof Sarabhai. In those days of Telex

© Indian National Academy of Engineering 2022 1

P. S. Goel, Making of a Satellite Centre,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3480-2_1
2 1 The Early Days

era when even fax was not available and telephone connectivity to different cities
could take hours and hours, it was amazing that Prof Sarabhai was there in every
decision-making, in all of his 28 institutions, and the system was working very well.
Dr M K Mukharjee, a material scientist, Dr V R Gowarikar, a nuclear and chemical
engineer working on the development of propellants, Dr S C Gupta, a control engi-
neer heading navigation, guidance and control, Dr A E Muthunayagam, a propulsion
engineer and Dr Y J Rao an aeronautical engineer were the five TCFC members.
In addition, Mr M R Kurup was heading Rocket Propellant Plant (RPP) and Mr H
G S Murthy was the Director of TERLS, responsible for the launching of sounding
rockets.
The SSD had a bumpy start with Mr B Rama Krishna Rao as its Head in 1967.
He was also heading Development of Electronic Systems (ELDR) and Electronics
Production (ELP) divisions for the launch vehicles. I understand that there was a
protest from a few engineers in the small SSD, to Prof Sarabhai and subsequently Mr
P P Kale, another scientist at Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Ahmedabad was
appointed as its head. An opportunity came to have a joint study for a communication
Satellite for India (INSAT-1) with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and
Mr Kale left for the US to lead the ISRO-MIT study. Mr R M Vasagam, Mr Y S
Rajan and Mr K Narayanan were also in the study team.
Professor U R Rao, then professor at PRL, was made the Division Head of SSD in
1969, and this perhaps was the beginning of the ISRO Satellite Centre in the making.
There were seven engineers in SSD in 1970 before I joined. Mr Tarsem Singh, acting
head, was also heading satellite Instrumentation, Ground Check Out and Integration.
Mr M K Saha was working on RF systems (Transmitter and receiver), Mr R Ashiya
on Telecommand and encoder, and Mr D V Raju and Mr B B Verma on Telemetry.
Mr P Radhakrishnan was working on Power Systems. Mr Ravindranath Raut was
assisting Mr Saha on RF systems. Then, Mr R Sellappan, Mr K Thyagarajan, Mr D
Venkataramana, Mr O P Sapra and myself joined together within a span of a few
days of each other in August bringing the SSD strength to 12. Mr Thyagarajan joined
Mr Raju for development of Telemetry and Mr Venkataramana as digital engineer
for Telecommand. Mr Sellappan and I started as Attitude Control System engineers.
Mr Sapra joined Mr Tarsem Singh for Ground Check Out.
SSD’s immediate mandate was to develop a 40 kg satellite, RS-1, to be launched
by SLV-3, into a 400 km, circular, 44 degree inclined orbit from Shriharikota (SHAR)
launch range, which was under development. Dr Y J Rao was Project Engineer for
development of launch Complex at SHAR. RS-1 was a technology mission and had
to be a simple, spinning satellite, with all basic systems and to be operational for one
year. 1970 was the year of the first transformation as the strength of SSD was more
than doubled in a span of 6 months. New expertise/disciplines were being added every
week. To start with, there were only communication (RF), Telemetry/Telecommand,
Power and instrumentation disciplines. Then came attitude and orbit control and
thermal control systems. Later in 1970, Mr R S Mathur and Mr S Y Ramakrishna
joined Mr Radhakrishnan for solar panels and power systems, respectively, Mr V K
Kaila, Mr V D Prasad for Thermal system, and Ms Rajalakshmi joined Mr Raju, and
Mr V Gopala Rao joined Mr Saha.
1 The Early Days 3

In 1971, Spacecraft integration and Structure were added. Mr V R Pratap joined

Mr Sapra as Ground Checkout engineer. Mr S Pal and Mr Kista Reddy as antenna
engineers, Mr T K Alex for Attitude sensors and instrumentation, and Mr V K Kaila
for thermal control. Later, Mr J P Gupta joined Telecommand. Mr V A Thomas, Mr
A V Patki, Mr H Narayanamurthy and Mr Srinivasan were transferred from different
divisions of SSTC to SSD. Mr Thomas was made head mechanical facilities, Mr
Patki, Head, Structures. Dr Subramanyam from SSTC joined Structures group and
Mr Narayanamurthy as head Thermal systems. Mr P S N Rao and Mr C Kameshwara
Rao joined control system to work on control electronics. Mr S Kalyanaraman, Mr
M L N Sastry and Mr R N Tyagi joined RF Systems. Mr V Gopala Rao initiated to
develop Transmitters. Mr R Seshaiah and Mr S M Bedekar joined Telemetry group.
By the end of 1971, we were a compact Satellite Systems Division of about 35
engineers, representing every discipline of the satellite technology.
Professor U R Rao was looking beyond RS-1, to do more from satellites, like
remote sensing and astronomy. Always thinking of satellites and payloads, one
Sunday morning, he drove to our house (we four bachelors from SSTC were living
together in a rented house in the city) just to discuss precise control of a gas in an
X-ray counter and how to sustain it in the orbit for a long duration. Sometime in
1971, during a chat about the future of SSD, he said that very soon we would have
over a hundred engineers working on different aspects of satellite technology in SSD.
The seed to form a satellite centre was there (in his mind) and it was awaiting an
opportunity to be sown.
The year 1971 ended with a tragedy. Professor Sarabhai expired on 30 December
1971, due to a heart attack, in the night at his hotel at Kovalam beach, Trivandrum,
after a full day of hectic activity. Just in the evening, he had delivered a speech to
SSTC employees on the open ground floor of the main SSTC building (the building
stands even today, with its old charm and glamour). It was the first and last opportunity
for me to listen to Prof Sarabhai in a general address, though I had met him earlier
when Prof Rao brought him to show SSD. When Prof Rao introduced me to Prof
Sarabhai as a young control engineer, Prof Sarabhai instantaneously said, “Keep
good relations with Dr Gupta’s division”. I could not understand the meaning of that
advice at that time but the words remained in my mind. It was found to be very useful
later on for decades during our interaction between SSD and Control, Guidance and
Instrumentation division, and Dr Gupta in particular.
I remember only one statement in his speech as it related to us. He told the
management, “Take care of young engineers at ‘C’ and ‘D’ level, and they will
take care of the work”. The sudden demise of Prof Sarabhai was a huge setback
and everyone was worried about the future of ISRO. Professor M G K Menon was
appointed as Chairman ISRO with the understanding that it was only a temporary
arrangement. However, what followed soon after was yet another event that changed
the destiny of SSD and ISRO.
The President of the USSR visited India in February 1972 and offered Prime
Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, to help India in building an Indian Satellite and also
to be launched by a Soviet launch vehicle, as a friendly gesture. It was perhaps
just to strengthen ties between our two countries in those times of the cold war in
4 1 The Early Days

Fig. 1.1 Lab pooja at Peenya

the bipolar world. Mrs Gandhi was a leader; she did not take even a second to say
“YES”. Professor Rao was called by the evening over the phone to ask how much it
will cost to make a Satellite and he instantaneously said rupees three crores. Project
ISSP (Indo Soviet Satellite Project) was thus born with this one call. Professor Rao
took a schedule of 3 years on himself and decided that the project ISSP should move
to Bangalore for speedy development, keeping in mind the industry and academia
support at Bangalore. As planning and understanding the working interface with the
Soviet Union was under way, Prof Satish Dhawan took over as Chairman ISRO in June
1972, on returning from CALTECH (California Technical University, USA), after
completing his assignment as Visiting Professor. He too approved of the movement
of the ISSP to Bangalore. There was some political opposition for shifting ISSP from
Thiruvananthapuram, but Prof Rao, with the support from Prof Dhawan and Delhi,
managed without much difficulty. We all now know how correct that decision was!
Even before ISSP, Prof Rao had been strengthening SSD with the induction of
Engineers at all levels. Dr S P Kosta joined as Antenna expert from CEERI Pilani,
becoming number two to him. He had also appointed a few engineers at PRL, Ahmed-
abad. Mr K S V Seshadri, Mr B L Agrawal and Mr A D Dharma were working in
his Cosmic Ray lab. Mr V R Katti, Y K Jain, Mr Arun Batra, Mr V Jayaraman, Mr
Srinivasa Murthy, Mr Ganage, Mr S Dasgupta and Dr Gambhir were working in
SSD/SSTC, PRL. With the approval of the state government of Karnataka, he got
allotted six Industrial sheds (A1–A6) which were under construction in the emerging
industrial area at Peenya to ISSP. A lab pooja was conducted on Ganesh Chaturthi
day, on 11 September 1972 (Fig. 1.1). This day is considered as the day of birth of
ISAC (ISRO Satellite Centre) as it marks the beginning of a vision that goes much
beyond making payloads for Launch Vehicles.
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