BENGALURU: SK Shivakumar, a former director of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), died early on Saturday, after complications from obstructive jaundice, said his family members. He was 66 years old.
A senior scientist, Shivakumar was part of the team that developed the telemetry system for Chandrayaan-I, India’s first moon mission. He was also responsible for designing the deep space communications equipment and was involved in the development of the 32m dish antenna that can communicate with satellites millions of miles away.
Born in Mysuru, Shivakumar pursued his bachelors degree in science from Mysuru University followed by BE in electrical communications engineering. Later he obtained MTech in physical engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
During this period, he contributed significantly to the mission planning, analysis and operations of several Indian satellite missions including Bhaskara, APPLE, IRS and INSAT. He served as mission director for IRS-1B and IRS-1C satellites that successfully completed a decade of operations in orbit.
From September 1998 to November 2010, Shivakumar served as director of ISTRAC and later took charge of URSAC, which was his last appointment.