Rocketing Through the Skies- An Eventful Life at ISRO

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Starting from the early days of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under the guidance of Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to leading the organization himself. G. Madhavan Nair has had an eventful tenure at ISRO. Nair's memoir is not just a chronicle of his own life, but a tribute to the spirit of innovation and exploration that drives the Indian Space Programme.

This remarkable tale of determination, hard work and unwavering passion begins in a village in Kerala from the halcyon days of pre-independent India. The sleepless nights at Thumba. the devastation of failures and the subsequent learning, the exhilaration of successes-all of these are captured in these pages with insight and candour. Nair also describes, in terms accessible to the layman, his scientific and managerial contributions to the launch vehicles from the SLV-3 onwards, building the workhorse launcher PSLV, traversing the path to an indigenous cryogenic engine, bringing an orbiting spacecraft back to earth and even planting the Indian tricolour on the Moon in Chandrayaan-1.

Challenging episodes are also described from an insider's perspective. Nair describes the ISRO spy case, along with addressing Nambinarayanan's involvement in it. He also offers a comprehensive and lucid discussion of the Devas scam, where the battle is still ongoing.

Rocketing Through the Skies: An Eventful Life at ISRO is a compelling read that shares a philosophy of life and work that led to great strides in ISRO's progress over many crucial decades.

The space cooperation between France and India started with scientific work dating back to 1963 between Professor Jacques Blamont (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales [CNES]) and Dr Vikram Sarabhai (founder of Indian Space Research Organisation [ISRO]), which created the foundation for a successful, amicable and long-lasting partnership. The first intergovernmental agreement for space cooperation in 1977, followed by another signed on 30 September 2008, during the Franco-Indian summit in Paris, sealed the strong desire to strengthen the cooperation between France and India. The launch of numerous Indian telecommunication and meteorology satellites starting from 1981 from French Guiana by the Ariane launch vehicle is a perfect example of the strength of the Franco-Indian cooperation.

Madhavan Nair and I became chairmen of ISRO and the CNES, respectively, in 2003, and we very quickly focussed on the development of space collaboration between our two countries.

There was a 'spark' at a personal and professional level that developed quickly, which allowed us to work in an environment of trust and friendship. We had the same strategic vision: to put space at the service of the needs of all humankind. At that time, I took a new slogan for the CNES: 'Space for Earth'.

Indeed, we shared the vision that space applications are bound to develop extensively, thanks to the tremendous advancements made in the field of space technologies (satellites, launchers, scientific instruments, telecommunications, navigation, etc.) and by conjugating with the Internet world and the digital revolution. Working together compounds the benefits for both nations. It could be used anywhere in the world, serving both public policy, scientific knowledge and the development of space services and related industries: fixed and mobile telephony, television, broadband Internet, positioning, Earth observation, meteorology, oceanography, hydrology, climate and the fight against climate change, 3D cartography, tele-education, tele-medicine, agriculture and forests, fishing, tourism, prevention and management of natural disasters, search and rescue, etc.

It is from this perspective that Madhavan Nair and I decided to jointly develop two scientific Earth observation satellites. First, Megha Tropiques for the study of meteorological and climatic phenomena in tropical zones (megha means cloud in Sanskrit), and second, Saral, an oceanographic altimetry satellite. Saral, which was under construction at the ISRO centre in Bengaluru (earlier known as Bangalore), had the privilege to be presented to the then president of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, during the first stop of his State visit to India in 2010, highlighting the strength of the Franco-Indian partnership. Both satellites were launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). We also embarked the French instrument Argos-4 on the Indian satellite Oceansat-3.

Madhavan Nair and I pushed our cooperation to grow. We received support from our directors, and, at the CNES, Dr Sylvie Callari was instrumental in the coordination.

The joint work done by our teams, driven by a common passion for space and the strong desire to succeed together, produced excellent results in the rewarding context of different working methods and reciprocal cultures.

I valued the high proficiency of Indian scientists, engineers and technicians, and their achievements. I remember the achievement of the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe in 2008, which notably discovered the presence of water as well as recent volcanism on the Moon, after which media started referring to Madhavan Nair as the 'Moon Man'.

We had the privilege to collaborate in person as I travelled to India very often to visit ISRO centres and hosted Madhavan and his team in Paris, Toulouse and Kourou, French Guiana. The International Academy of Astronautics was also a place where we had the opportunity to work together when Madhavan Nair was its president and I was its vice-president.

I have grown up and lived for the most part in independent India.

I have enjoyed the freedom and benefitted from the opportunities in the largest democracy in the world. That is how a village boy like me could rise to the highest position in the Indian space programme. I stepped down as the chairman of ISRO in 2009 after taking its glory to the pinnacle by placing the Indian national flag on the Moon.

Afterwards, wherever I went, several people asked me why I did not write my autobiography, just as my guru Dr Kalam had done through Wings of Fire. I used to brush aside such suggestions, saying that I cannot be compared with Dr Kalam, the national icon! The fact was that Dr Kalam was meticulous in keeping daily notes of events in his notebook, whereas I had to comb through my memory. Writing was never my cup of tea. It was during a flight from Delhi that Ravi Deecee, the CEO of DC Books, convinced me about the need for such a book. He said that he would organize a scribe for me and I had to only narrate my story. I was lucky that he recommended P.V. Alby, who had translated Wings of Fire to Malayalam. We spent nearly a month together, and Alby absorbed every word of mine like a sponge. The result was my autobiography in Malayalam titled Agniparikshakal, published by DC Books in 2017.

There was a lot of demand for an English version. I was hesitant to undertake that arduous task. One evening, my friends Dr Unnikrishnan and Jaya dropped in for a chat. I was impressed with the literary activity Jaya had been pursuing after voluntary retirement from ISRO. Not only that, she is the grand-niece of Rama Kurup, who was my teacher at what is now known as Raja Kesavadas N.S.S. Higher Secondary School and is my role model. I told her that I expect a re-narration rather than a literal translation of the Malayalam version. She did a wonderful job, and the end product is Rocketing through the Skies. In addition, my office staff and several of my close friends assisted me in this venture. I acknowledge the contributions of all those with gratitude.

I do not want to repeat what is written in this book. My life story and ISRO's history are intimately intertwined. I have tried to include several incidents-both happy and unpleasant ones. My destiny was not moulded deliberately by any individual but is the result of a series of events that may look like accidents. The cumulative effect of all the events has made me who I am. I have faced failures, successes, blames and praises. Failures have taught me more than path-breaking successes. I do not claim any credit to myself because I stood on the shoulders of my ISRO family while placing the tricolour on the Moon. The credit goes to them.