Vikram Sarabhai

File:Vikrambhai and amma .jpg

Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 in a Gujarati Śvetāmbara Shrimali Jain family, in Ahmedabad, India.{{Cite book |last=AMRITA SHAH |url=https://archive.org/details/VikramSarabhai-ALife/page/n8/mode/1up |title=VIKRAM SARABHAI - A LIFE |language=Sanskrit}}{{Cite web |title=formerchairman |url=https://www.isro.gov.in/sarabhaiformer.html#:~:text=Vikram%20Sarabhai%20was%20born%20on,owned%20many%20mills%20in%20Gujarat. |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=www.isro.gov.in}}{{Cite news |date=2015-04-09 |title=Jains steal the show with 7 Padmas |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jains-steal-the-show-with-7-padmas/articleshow/46856659.cms |access-date=2024-08-18 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}} His father was Ambalal Sarabhai a major industrialist committed to the Indian independence movement.{{cite book|title=Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, 1800-1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ba7AAAAIAAJ|page=44|year=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-562806-7 |quote=The Sarabhais and the Lalbhais, the town's two most prominent entrepreneurial families, were Banias prominent as shroffs.}}{{Cite book |last=Shah |first=Amrita |title=Amrita Shah - Vikram Sarabhai - A Life |publisher=Penguin |year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIM_DAAAQBAJ|isbn=9780670999514 |pages=97 |language=en}} Vikram Sarabhai married the classical dancer Mrinalini on 3 September 1942. The couple had two children. His daughter Mallika gained prominence as an actress and activist, and his son Kartikeya too became an active person in science. He attended Gujarat College, Ahmedabad, but later moved to the University of Cambridge, England, where he took his tripos in natural sciences in 1940. In 1945, he returned to Cambridge to pursue his PhD and wrote a thesis, "Cosmic Ray Investigations in Tropical Latitudes", in 1947.{{cite web|last=Goyal|first=Shikha|date=12 August 2019|title=Vikram Sarabhai founder of ISRO 100th Birthday: All you need to know|url=https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/vikram-sarabhai-1565439068-1|access-date=12 August 2019|website=Jagran Josh}}

File:Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Paine Sign a Satellite Agreement - GPN-2002-000081.jpg and Dr. Thomas O. Paine, NASA Administrator, sign an agreement to cooperate in an unprecedented experiment using a space satellite to bring instructional television programs to some 5,000 Indian villages.|alt=|257x257px]]

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Known as the cradle of space sciences in India, the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) was founded in 1947 by Vikram Sarabhai.{{Cite web|last=R.|first=Parthasarathy|date=April 3, 2003|title=Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971): Architect of Indian space programme|url=https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2003/04/03/stories/2003040300100300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030518211014/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/seta/2003/04/03/stories/2003040300100300.htm|archive-date=May 18, 2003|access-date=2019-08-10|website=The Hindu}} PRL had a modest beginning at his residence, the "RETREAT", with research on cosmic rays.

The institute was formally established at the M.G. Science Institute, Ahmedabad, on 11 November 1947{{cite web | url=https://www.prl.res.in/website_english15/about/hist.php | title=BRIEF HISTORY | access-date=28 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408134414/https://www.prl.res.in/website_english15/about/hist.php | archive-date=8 April 2016 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all |publisher=Physical Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Government of India}} with support from the Karmkshetra Educational Foundation and the Ahmedabad Education Society. Kalpathi Ramakrishna Ramanathan was the first Director of the institute. The initial focus was research on cosmic rays and the properties of the upper atmosphere. Research areas were expanded to include theoretical physics and radio physics later with grants from the Atomic Energy Commission.

He led the Sarabhai family-owned business conglomerate.

His interests varied from science to sports to statistics. He set up the Operations Research Group (ORG), the first market research organization in the country. Most notable among the many institutes he helped set up are the Nehru Foundation for Development in Ahmedabad, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), and the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA). Along with his wife Mrinalini Sarabhai, he founded the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. Other projects and institutions initiated or established by him include the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) in Kalpakkam, Variable Energy Cyclotron Project in Calcutta, Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) in Hyderabad and Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in Jaduguda, Jharkhand.

Sarabhai started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian satellite. As a result, the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian cosmodrome. He was the founder of Indian Space Research Organisation.

On 30 December 1971, Sarabhai was to review the SLV design before his departure for Bombay the same night. He had spoken to A. P. J. Abdul Kalam on the telephone. Within an hour into the conversation, Sarabhai died of cardiac arrest at the age of 52 in Thiruvananthapuram (then trivandrum). His body was cremated in Ahmedabad.

• President of the Physics section,Indian Science Congress (1962)
• President of the General Conference of the I.A.E.A., Vienna (1970)
• Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India (1966–1971){{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/archives/from-the-archives-may-23-1969-sarabhai-assails-faltering-nuclear-policy/article27210262.ece|title=From the Archives (May 23, 1969): Sarabhai assails faltering nuclear policy|date=2019-05-23|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-08-10|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dae.nic.in/writereaddata/chmnaec.pdf|title=Former Chairmen of Atomic Energy Commission|date=2012-06-05|website=Government of India Department of Atomic Energy|access-date=2019-08-10}}
• Vice-president, Fourth UN Conference on 'Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy' (1971)
• Founder and Chairman (1963–1971), Space Applications Centre{{Cite web|url=https://www.sac.gov.in/Vyom/founder.jsp|title=Space Applications Centre|website=www.sac.gov.in|access-date=2019-08-10|archive-date=26 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326030524/https://www.sac.gov.in/Vyom/founder.jsp|url-status=dead}}

File:Vikram Sarabhai 1972 stamp of India.jpg

• The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, (VSSC), which is the Indian Space Research Organization's lead facility for launch vehicle development located in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), capital of Kerala state, is named in his memory.
• Along with other Ahmedabad-based industrialists, he played a major role in setting up of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
• Indian Postal Department released a commemorative Postal Stamp On his first death anniversary (30 December 1972)
• In 1973, the International Astronomical Union decided that a lunar crater, Bessel A, in the Sea of Serenity will be known as the Sarabhai crater.Antonín Rükl: Atlas Měsíce, Aventinum (Praha 1991), chapter Bessel, page 74, {{ISBN|80-85277-10-7}} {{in lang|cs}}Sarabhai (crater) – {{cite web|title=Planetary Names: Sarabhai on Moon; |url=http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5320|publisher=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, IAU, USGS, NASA|date=18 Oct 2010|access-date=22 July 2015}}
• The lander on India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 which was to land near the South Pole of the Moon on Sep 20, 2019 was named Vikram in his honour.
• Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC) located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is named after him. Vikram Sarabhai established this institute around the 1960s.
• Former World Quiz Champion Vikram Joshi was named after him.
• A Space Museum was dedicated to him at B M Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad on 26 July 2019. The museum was curated by Pranav Sharma.{{Cite web|title=Space Museum opened at Hyderabad with ISRO Collaboration - ISRO|url=https://www.isro.gov.in/update/08-aug-2019/space-museum-opened-hyderabad-with-isro-collaboration|access-date=2020-09-22|website=www.isro.gov.in}}{{Cite news|date=2019-12-06|title=Birla Science Centre's Pranav Sharma gets REX Karmaveer Award|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/birla-science-centres-pranav-sharma-gets-rex-karmaveer-award/article30214217.ece|access-date=2020-09-22|issn=0971-751X}}
• ISRO's Vikas (rocket engine) is named after him.
• On his 100th birthday on 12 August 2019, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced an award in the name of Vikram Sarabhai. The Vikram Sarabhai Journalism award in Space Science Technology and Research will be given to those journalists who have contributed to the fields of space science, applications, and research.{{Cite web|date=8 August 2019|title=ISRO announces Vikram Sarabhai awards for journalism in the fields of space science, applications, and research|url=https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/isro-announces-vikram-sarabhai-awards-for-journalism-in-the-fields-of-space-science-applications-and-research-7129111.html|website=Firstpost}}

On 12 August 2019, Google's Doodle for India commemorated Sarabhai's 100th birth anniversary.{{Cite web|title=Vikram Sarabhai's 100th Birthday|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/vikram-sarabhais-100th-birthday/}}

On 30 September 2020, ACK Media along with ISRO released a book namely, Vikram Sarabhai: Pioneering India's Space Programme. It was released in Amar Chitra Katha's digital platform and merchandise, ACK Comics.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

A 2022 web-series Rocket Boys was based on the fictionalized lives of Sarabhai and Homi J. Bhabha, played by Ishwak Singh and Jim Sarbh respectively.

In the 2022 film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect based on Nambi Narayanan's life, Sarabhai was played by Rajit Kapur in the Hindi version and by Ravi Raghavendra in the Tamil version.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-02 |title='Rocket Boys' gets Vikram Sarabhai wrong |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/rocket-boys-vikram-sarabhai-sony-liv-7796604/ |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2022-02-24 |title=Why Rocket Boys didn't need to take so many creative liberties |url=https://lifestyle.livemint.com//news/opinion/why-rocket-boys-didn-t-need-to-take-so-many-creative-liberties-111645605832628.html |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=Mintlounge |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=As a Historian of the Nuclear Program, I Can Only Laugh at the Howlers in Rocket Boys |url=https://thewire.in/culture/rocket-boys-science-absurd |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=The Wire}}{{Cite web |title='Rocket Boys' Begins Well, Then Turns Into Hagiography With a Blatantly Communal Touch |url=https://thewire.in/culture/rocket-boys-review |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=The Wire}}

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• [http://astrotalkuk.org/2013/10/30/episode-62-vikram-sarabhai/ Interview with biographer Amrita Shah recorded in August 2013]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041031034705/http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/greatscientists/vikramasarabhai/ Great Scientists at freeindia.org]

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{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}

{{SSBPST recipients in Physical Science}}

{{Indian space programme}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarabhai, Vikram Ambalal}}

Category:1919 births

Category:1971 deaths

Category:20th-century Indian physicists

Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge

Category:Space programme of India

Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering

Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in science & engineering

Category:Scientists from Ahmedabad

Category:Indian Space Research Organisation people

Category:Gujarati people

Category:Sarabhai family

Category:Experiments in Art and Technology collaborating artists