ISRO can learn a lot from Satish Dhawan’s legacy

Satish Dhawan, whose birth centenary celebrations have commenced, steered the nascent space programme through the 1970s. The Department of Space was established four months after Vikram Sarabhai’s death and Dhawan was made its first secretary. It was perhaps the last scientific department to be cast in the Nehru-Bhabha mould that ensured state support to scientific research, but insulated departments from governmental interference.

Heading right: Dhawan (inset) helmed the space programme in its critical years.

Dinesh C Sharma

Science Commentator

ThIS week is very special for the Indian space community. It marks the end of the birth centenary celebrations of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, widely considered to be the father of the Indian space programme, even as the centenary celebrations of Prof Satish Dhawan, who filled the vacuum left by Sarabhai’s demise in 1971, have begun. Sarabhai led the launch of sounding rockets from Thumba on the Kerala coast, designed space application programmes and paved the way for a separate space agency — the Indian Space Research Programme — in the 1960s. Dhawan steered the nascent space programme through the difficult decade of the 1970s. Together, their efforts laid the foundation of a robust space programme in India.

The Department of Space (DoS) was established four months after the death of Sarabhai, and Dhawan was made its first secretary. It was perhaps the last scientific department to be cast in the Nehru-Bhabha mould that ensured state support to scientific research, but insulated scientific departments from governmental interference. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was established as a full government department, but it was located in Mumbai and not Delhi. Bhabha’s idea was that while he needed the clout of a secretary, on a par with IAS secretaries, to get necessary support for his research goals, the department itself should be free from bureaucratic and ministerial interference. It was his idea that scientific secretaries should report directly to the Prime Minister without any intermediaries. ISRO was founded as a unit under the DAE in 1969, becoming part of DoS in 1972.

When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi picked Dhawan to head the space programme, he was director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore but was on a teaching sabbatical to his alma mater, California Institute of Technology. Dhawan accepted the offer but did not want to leave his teaching responsibilities, indicating that the new Department of Space will have to be located in Bangalore and not Delhi. Both the conditions of Dhawan were accepted and the DoS started working in Bangalore just as the DAE was located in Mumbai. In fact, MGK Menon, who was made the secretary of another new department — the Department of Electronics — and Chairman of the Electronics Commission, around the same time, also insisted on the same. He continued as Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Electronic Commission had to operate from Mumbai. Three key scientific departments, located away from the administrative capital Delhi, was not only the high point of the Nehru-Bhabha model of scientific development, but also signified the commitment of scientific leadership to science and teaching while shouldering official responsibilities. Dhawan, as desired by him, was allowed to remain the IISc Director, drawing a salary of Re 1 from ISRO.

An unintended fallout of Dhawan’s insistence on continuing in Bangalore to head ISRO was a shift in the gravity of the space programme from Ahmedabad to Bangalore. In the 1960s, the space programme was shaping up mostly in Thumba — which was the rocket launch site — and Ahmedabad, where all the developmental work was happening. The Physical Research Laboratory founded by Sarabhai was in Ahmedabad. A satellite telecommunication earth station was also established in the city in 1965, and it became the nucleus for all space application-related activities. Therefore, when ISRO was set up, it was assumed that Ahmedabad would be its headquarters. But Bangalore became the headquarters of DoS and ISRO because of Dhawan, though all space activities in Ahmedabad were grouped under a new body, Space Applications Centre.

Physical distance from Delhi, however, did not deter other government departments to place obstacles in the work of ISRO in the initial period. The very nature of the space agency’s tasks was such that it needed to work closely with departments handling communications, education, broadcasting and so on. This led to the usual turf wars, and Dhawan had to carefully steer clear of confrontation while implementing satellite projects such as SITE, APPLE and INSAT etc. Some of these projects were also diplomatically sensitive, involving Cold War rivals, the US and the USSR. He kept the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office updated about the designs of Western powers to use civilian satellites for military surveillance under the guise of an ambiguous definition of ‘exclusively peaceful’ in bilateral and international agreements. Around the same time, information from diplomatic channels revealed that China had applied for a slot for a communication satellite close to that proposed for INSAT.

When the Congress party and Indira Gandhi lost the elections and a government led by Morarji Desai took over in March 1977, Dhawan moved swiftly to ensure that the working of DoS — which was just five years old then — was not disturbed. This was important because the SITE project (Satellite Instructional Television Experiment) conceived by Sarabhai, but implemented during the Emergency, was seen as a project misused by Indira Gandhi for propaganda during the Emergency years.

Dhawan sought a meeting with Desai and saw him the very next day after he became the Prime Minister and briefed him about the ‘special nature of work and responsibilities’ of DoS. This was even before ministerial portfolios were announced. Dhawan requested Desai that the ‘Department of Space and the direction of the national space programme should continue to be directly with the PM.’ Desai subsequently announced a review of scientific agencies including DAE but left out DoS. He also heeded Dhawan’s advice on appointing a new member of the Space Commission. All this ensured smooth transition of the space programme in its critical years. Political support for the programme was crucial because ISRO was yet to prove its satellite launch capabilities. Any disruption at this point could have derailed the launch vehicle development and satellite projects.

ISRO of today has a lot to learn from the legacy of Satish Dhawan. The agency is still located in Bangalore, but is it free from unnecessary meddling from Delhi? Political support for science is important but political influence on science can be dangerous.