Pawan Chandana, Bharath Daka: The duo behind India's historic Vikram-1 mission
New Delhi, July 18
What started as an ambitious idea by two former ISRO scientists in 2018 has grown into India's biggest private space success story, with Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka leading Skyroot Aerospace to the country's first private orbital launch.
Former ISRO scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka founded Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace in 2018 with the ambition of making satellite launches as routine and affordable as booking a commercial flight.
The founders now lead the company as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, overseeing a team of more than 1,000 professionals working across rocket design, propulsion, avionics and launch systems.
More than two decades ago, Pawan Kumar Chandana cleared the IIT entrance exam in his first attempt and joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur.
While many engineering graduates chose high-paying jobs in the technology industry, Chandana was passionate about space and rockets.
His interest led him to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where he was recruited directly from the IIT Kharagpur campus.
At ISRO, he worked on the GSLV Mk III, India's heaviest launch vehicle, and played a role in its development.
His work earned him an internal innovation award. During his six years at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Chandana gained valuable experience in rocket design and development while contributing to India's growing space programme.
Naga Bharath Daka is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Skyroot Aerospace. Before starting the company, he worked as a flight computer engineer at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where he designed and developed several avionics modules for Indian launch vehicles.
An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Daka holds a master's degree in Microelectronics and VLSI Design. He also has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.
He has extensive experience in avionics, semiconductor technologies and FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) systems, which has played a key role in the development of Skyroot Aerospace's launch vehicles.
— IANS
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