Who was the father of Indian Space Programme?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (1919-1971). He is universally regarded as the father of the Indian space programme: he founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad in 1947 and set up the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962, which was reorganised into ISRO in 1969. He convinced the government that a developing nation needed space technology for real problems like communication and weather forecasting.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) He succeeded Sarabhai as ISRO Chairman (1972-1984) and led it through its formative launch-vehicle years; the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota is named after him. He built on the programme but did not found it.  (c) Bhabha is the father of India's NUCLEAR (atomic energy) programme, not the space programme — a classic swap of the two founding scientists.  (d) A later ISRO Chairman (1994-2003) associated with the IRS satellites and early Chandrayaan planning; he headed the organisation decades after it was founded.

Concept: India's civilian space effort grew from a small research committee into ISRO. Vikram Sarabhai's vision was 'application-driven' — using satellites for communication, television, weather and resource mapping rather than prestige. The institutional chain is PRL (1947) → INCOSPAR (1962) → ISRO (1969), Department of Space (1972).

State PCS 2019 Q81 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q81 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer