Ideas

Space for development, not prestige

He rejected any race with rich nations to the moon or the planets or in crewed flight. Space was to be a lever of development. Satellites would carry education and communication to a poor country.

we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society

Dedication of Thumba to the United Nations (2 February 1968)

Current Science: Pramod Kale, Vikram Sarabhai – Visionary motivator (25 April 2020) · Scroll.in: The Vikram Sarabhai years, from Ever Upwards: ISRO in Images (18 November 2019) · President of India: Address at the valedictory of the Sarabhai centenary (25 September 2020) · Harvard Business School, Economics of Space: ISRO · Britannica: Vikram Sarabhai

Leapfrog, do not crawl

He favoured leapfrogging over step-by-step progress. India should go straight to satellite communication. When the 1964 Olympics were relayed by satellite he had an earth station working in Ahmedabad by 1967.

President of India: Address at the valedictory of the Sarabhai centenary (25 September 2020) · Scroll.in: The Vikram Sarabhai years, from Ever Upwards: ISRO in Images (18 November 2019)

Satellite television for village India

He wanted television to reach farmers and schoolchildren in villages without roads or electricity. He backed the Krishi Darshan farm programme and signed the 1969 agreement with NASA for SITE. The experiment ran after his death and reached more than 2,400 villages in six states.

Wikipedia: Satellite Instructional Television Experiment · Current Science: Pramod Kale, Vikram Sarabhai – Visionary motivator (25 April 2020) · President of India: Address at the valedictory of the Sarabhai centenary (25 September 2020) · Wikipedia: Indian Space Research Organisation

Builder of institutions

He created or helped create PRL, ATIRA, IIM Ahmedabad, INCOSPAR and ISRO, the Space Applications Centre and the Community Science Centre. At IIMA he secured Ford Foundation help and Harvard mentoring. He invited Louis Kahn to design the campus and chose the Sidi Saiyyed lattice for its logo.

Current Science: Pramod Kale, Vikram Sarabhai – Visionary motivator (25 April 2020) · IIM Ahmedabad Archives: Vikram Sarabhai · IIM Ahmedabad: Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai · Wikipedia: Vikram Sarabhai

Managing science like an enterprise

He believed institutions should be built around people. He gave authority to match responsibility and trusted his staff. He brought modern management to his family’s firms and set up the Operations Research Group, described as India’s first market research body.

There is no leader and there is no led.

Science Policy and National Development (1974)

Current Science: Pramod Kale, Vikram Sarabhai – Visionary motivator (25 April 2020) · Wikipedia: Vikram Sarabhai · Wikiquote: Vikram Sarabhai

Science for every citizen

He set up the Community Science Centre in Ahmedabad to bring hands-on science to students and teachers. He saw television as a way to teach a whole nation. President Kovind linked that vision to remote schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

President of India: Address at the valedictory of the Sarabhai centenary (25 September 2020) · Wikipedia: Vikram Sarabhai · Current Science: Pramod Kale, Vikram Sarabhai – Visionary motivator (25 April 2020)

Atoms for development

As head of atomic energy he steered the programme towards peaceful purposes. Projects begun on his watch include the Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam and the Variable Energy Cyclotron in Calcutta. He also started ECIL and the Uranium Corporation. His plan for an agro-industrial complex powered by nuclear energy never materialised.

Wikipedia: Smiling Buddha · Wikipedia: Vikram Sarabhai · Current Science: Pramod Kale, Vikram Sarabhai – Visionary motivator (25 April 2020)

Bet on the young

He hand-picked young engineers and gave them real responsibility. R. Aravamudan joined at 25. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam trained at NASA’s Wallops Island and went with him to win over the bishop of Thumba. He sent a small team to Australia to buy a second-hand tracking station.

Swarajya: Review of R. Aravamudan’s ISRO: A Personal History (4 April 2017) · The Better India: Transported on a bicycle, launched from a church (8 November 2016) · Scroll.in: The Vikram Sarabhai years, from Ever Upwards: ISRO in Images (18 November 2019)

Overview · Life · Ideas · Books · Videos · Debates · People I learn from