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capable of producing results time and time again. Working in tandem, Dhawan and Brahm
Prakash created one of the great technology centres of modern India. VSSC became the

birthplace of many subsequent ISRO centres and activities. It was the same Dhawan-Brahm
Prakash duo that picked A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to lead the project that developed SLV-3, India’s

first launch vehicle, and U.R. Rao to head the team that made the country’s first satellite,
Aryabhata. When the SLV-3 put a small 40-kg Rohini satellite into orbit in 1980, India truly
entered the space age.

Soon after he took over, Dhawan realised that for ISRO to grow and to deliver on its
potential, it was necessary to restructure its links with the government. Against great

opposition, he brought ISRO under the Government and created the Department of Space.
He also realised that a different structure for the functioning of this new department was

necessary. The creation of the Space Commission, a separate book of financial powers and a
direct link to the Prime Minister were the specific mechanisms through which Dhawan
sought to address the challenges that ISRO faced. The practice of combining the offices of

Chairman of ISRO, Chairman of the Space Commission and Secretary for the Department of
Space in one person also ensured seamless integration between conceptualisation and

funding of programmes with delivery of technologies, launchers, satellites and
applications. The setting up of ISRO Headquarters, staffed by young, bright and dedicated
professionals hand-picked by Dhawan himself, completed the process of linking ISRO

programmes and projects with decision-makers and sources of funds. This particular
architecture that Dhawan designed was original and innovative. ISRO’s continuing success

is visible proof of the robustness of this design.

Under the leadership of Dhawan and Brahm Prakash, ISRO pioneered a new way of

managing complex projects. In this system, the project director presided over a small team
of experts whose job it was to coordinate and channelise efforts of independent R&D
groups towards realising a common goal, be it a launch vehicle or a satellite. Dhawan also

ensured total transparency in project management by involving leading professionals from
outside ISRO in the technical reviews of its projects.

From the beginning, Dhawan insisted on a significant role for indigenous industry in the
projects of ISRO. Today, hundreds of industrial units, both in the public and private sectors,

manufacture a wide range of space-quality hardware for ISRO.

The early days saw many failures. Through all those difficult times, Dhawan never lost faith

in ISRO’s capabilities. He took personal responsibility for failure but when success came, he
always attributed it to ISRO and his colleagues. Thus, when the first flight of SLV-3 in 1979
failed, Dhawan faced the press. When the second flight succeeded, Dhawan kept himself in

the background while Kalam spoke to the press. With this kind of leadership, engineers and
scientists in ISRO were never afraid to face honest failures.