A Many-Splendored Life

In his book Space and Beyond, Dr Kasturirangan reflects on his “extraordinary and many-splendored” life. This timeline traces the remarkable journey behind those words.

Appointed Academician of Pontifical Academy of Sciences by Pope Benedict XVI. He is the fourth Indian to be appointed to the Academy after CV Raman, MGK Menon and CNR Rao.

Dr Kasturirangan is born on October 24, 1940, in Ernakulam, Kerala, to C.M. Krishnaswamy Iyer and Visalakshi. He attends Sree Rama Varma High School, Ernakulam, and later South Indian Education Society High School, in Bombay.

Completes BSc (Honours) in Physics at Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai

Completes MSc in Physics from Bombay University

Joins Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) for his doctoral work in cosmic X-rays in Vikram Sarabhai’s laboratory

Marries Lakshmi. They have two sons, Rajesh and Sanjay

Completes doctorate in experimental high-energy astronomy.



















Takes on systems engineering responsibility for Aryabhata, India’s first satellite

Aryabhata is successfully launched by a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket from Kapustin Yar

Appointed Project Director for Bhaskara-I, India’s first experimental earth observation satellite

Bhaskara-I is launched

Appointed Project Director for Bhaskara-II

The Aryabhata Project, a book he co-edited with U.R. Rao is released

Bhaskara-II launches from Kapustin Yar aboard the Soviet’s Intercosmos launch vehicle

Awarded the Intercosmos Council Award of the Soviet Academy of Sciences

Receives his first Padma award, the Padma Shri, in the Science and Engineering category

Awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Engineering Sciences

Appointed Deputy Director of ISRO Satellite Centre

Appointed Associate Director of ISRO Satellite Centre

Appointed Director of ISRO Satellite Centre, overseeing development of IRS-1B, INSAT-2, and other programmes

IRS-1B, the second of the series of indigenously developed remote sensing satellites of India, successfully launches from the Soviet Cosmodrome at Baikonur

His wife Lakshmi passes away

Receives his second Padma award, the Padma Bhushan, in the Science and Engineering category

INSAT-2A and 2B, India’s first multipurpose satellites (for providing telecommunications, television broadcasting, meteorological and search and rescue services) launches from French Guiana using the European Ariane 4 launch vehicle

The first flight of the indigenously developed launch vehicle PSLV narrowly misses success due to a software error

Appointed Chairman of the Space Commission, a position he held for nearly a decade under four successive Prime Ministers

The PSLV has its first successful launch

India’s first second-generation operational remote sensing satellite, IRS-1C, is launched by a Molniya-M launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome

He proposes an Indian lunar mission during a public lecture in New Delhi

Receives his third Padma award, the Padma Vibhushan, in the Science and Engineering category

A new class of launch vehicle capable of launching heavy communication and navigation satellites, the GSLV, achieves its first successful test flight, making India one of the six countries in the world to demonstrate capabilities for geostationary satellite launches

Elected President of the Indian Academy of Sciences

MetSat-1, India’s first dedicated meteorological satellite, is launched on the indigenous PSLV in Sriharikota

Conferred the title of Officer of the Legion d’honneur, the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit

MetSat-1 is renamed Kalpana-1, in honour of astronaut Kalpana Chawla who was killed when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates on reentry

Becomes Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) in Bengaluru

Elected President of the Indian National Academy of Engineering

Delivers a 29-minute speech in the Rajya Sabha in support of the Indo-US nuclear 123 Agreement

Chandrayaan-1, the Moon mission he championed for years, is successfully launched

Becomes the first chairman of the Karnataka Knowledge Commission (KKC), established by the government of Karnataka

Chairs the High Level Working Group on the Western Ghats constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to suggest an approach for development of the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats

Appointed Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Delivers the convocation address at IISc, Bengaluru, at its first ever convocation ceremony

Awarded the Rajyotsava Prashasti by the Government of Karnataka

The Hesaraghatta campus of the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), an institute Dr Kasturirangan was closely involved in, is inaugurated

Chairs a committee constituted by the government of India to develop the National Education Policy (NEP)

His book Space and Beyond is published by Springer Nature

The National Curriculum Framework for School Education, formulated by a steering committee under his stewardship, is released

Passes away at the age of 84 at his residence in Bengaluru

Receives an offer to do postdoctoral work with Nobel Laureate Prof Louis Alvarez at UC Berkeley, but is convinced by Sarabhai to join ISRO instead

IRS-1A, India’s first operational remote sensing satellite and, developed under his leadership, successfully launches from the Soviet Cosmodrome at Baikonur, aboard their Vostok-2M rocket

Takes charge as Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space

Following a midnight phone call nominating him to the Rajya Sabha, he steps down as Chairman of ISRO

Joins the Planning Commission under PM Manmohan Singh, with charge of Science and Technology, Environment, Forests, Agriculture Research, and Climate Change

The comprehensive report on the Western Ghats is released by the High-Level Working Group which he chaired

Astrosat, India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory and a mission he championed, is successfully launched

The Draft National Education Policy 2020 is officially released

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