R. Aravamudan

Ramabhadran Aravamudan (7 October 1936 – 4 August 2021) was an Indian space scientist and engineer who was associated with the Indian space programme from its initial days in 1962. Through his career he served as the director of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, and the ISRO Satellite centre. He was a recipient of the 2009 Aryabhata Award from the Astronautical Society of India.

Early life Aravamudan was born into a middle-class family in Madras in the then-undivided India. He obtained a degree in electronics engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology, where he was a first-rank holder.

In the early 1970s, he served as the director of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. In the 1980s, he became the associate director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. In 1989, he took over as the director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre and in 1994, he moved to Bangalore as the director of ISRO Satellite Centre.

Personal life Aravamudan was married to Gita Aravamudan, a journalist. The couple had two sons.

Aravamudan died on 4 August 2021, at his house in Bangalore. He was aged 84. co-authored with his wife, Gita

Awards The Aryabhata Award from The Astronautical Society of India (2009) Outstanding Achievement Award of ISRO (2010)