Dr Vikram Sarabhai was not only an imaginative and creative scientist but also a pioneering industrialist and an astute planner. He made significant contribution in the field of cosmic ray physics and in the development of nuclear power and space programmes. When Dr Bhabha died suddenly in 1966 in a plane crash, it seemed almost impossible to fill the vacuum but fortunately a worthy successor could be found in Dr Sarabhai. He took up the nuclear programmes with a challenge and also added fresh dimensions to the space research programmes.
Dr Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919 at Ahmadabad in a rich industrialist family. His early education was in a private school in Gujarat College at Ahmadabad. He then went to Cambridge, England, and obtained his tripos in 1939 from St. John’s College. He then came back to India and staled research work in the field of cosmic rays with Sir C.V. Raman at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 1945 he went back to Cambridge to carry out further research on cosmic rays. There in 1947 he obtained a Ph.D. degree in the same field.
It was as early as 1942, when Dr Sarabhai and his newly-married wife, Sreemati Mrinalini were staying for some time in Poona. There he conceived the idea of starting the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmadabad. Soon after his return from Cambridge in 1947, Sarabhai started looking for a place for this project. He got a few rooms at the M.G. Science Institute to start the laboratory and Prof. K.K. Ramanathan was made its first director in 1948. The foundation stone of the new laboratory building was laid in February, 1952 by Sir C.V. Raman and the laboratory was formally opened in April 1954. Dr Sarabhai made the Physical Research Laboratory virtually the cradle of the Indian Space Programme just like Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was one such centre for the Indian Atomic Energy Programme.
Dr Sarabhai not only encouraged science but also devoted a good deal of time to industry also. For over 15 years he nurtured a pharmaceutical industry and he was also a pioneer of the pharmaceutical industry in India.
The first institution that Sarabhai helped to build was the Ahmadabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA). In building ATIRA he helped to introduce the scientific method in a traditional industry. He was only 28 when he was asked to organize and build ATIRA. From 1949-1965 he remained an Honorary Director of ATIRA. In 1962 he helped to found the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmadabad. From 1962-1965 he remained as an Honorary Director of this Institute. Dr Sarabhai was mainly responsible for setting up of the Thumba rocket launching station. In 1966, after the death of Dr Bhabha, he became the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
Today, the success of space programmes in India is largely owing to the groundwork prepared by him in this regard. Dr Homi Bhabha put India on the nuclear map of the world and Dr Sarabhai did it in the field of space. Due to his efforts India could launch its first satellite, Aryabhatta, just three-and-half years after his death.
As a result of his achievements Dr Sarabhai became a world renowned figure in the field of space research. He was given the Bhatnagar Memorial Award for Physics in 1962; Padma Bhushan in 1966 and was awarded Padma Vibhushan posthumously. He was elected the Vice-President and Chairman of the U.N. conference on peaceful uses of outer space in 1968. He presided over the fourteenth General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Dr Sarabhai died on December 30, 1971 at the age of 52 when he was at the peak of his achievements. It was a great loss to India and the Indian science in particular.