BENGALURU: Veteran space scientist Ramabhadran Aravamudan, who was among the first to join the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1962 when it was still named Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), died in Bengaluru late Wednesday night.
He had been ailing for over a year with kidney problems.
Eighty-four-year-old Aravamudan retired from ISRO in 1997 after being a director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (spaceport) in Sriharikota, and the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bengaluru. He had closely worked with ‘Missile Man’ Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India. He was known for his expertise in satellite tracking and telemetry.
Aravamudan, initially started his career with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), but found his calling in space research and projects under Dr Vikram Sarabhai, known as the father of India’s space programme. He joined INCOSPAR at a time when plans were being firmed up to set up Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in Thiruvananthapuram for upper atmospheric research.