

Kalam also directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant, which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV program. He was invited by physicist Raja Ramanna to witness the country’s first nuclear test, Smiling Buddha, as the representative of the Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory (TBRL), even though he had not participated in its development. Kalam worked to develop the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and SLV-III projects, both of which were ultimately successful. He visited NASA facilities in Greenbelt, Maryland’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Hampton, Virginia’s Langley Research Center, and Wallops Flight Facility in 19.īetween the 1970s and 1990s, Dr.

This was the time of learning and acquisition of knowledge for me.”ĭr. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof Satish Dhawan, and Dr.

He described his time at DRDO as “ This was my first stage, in which I learned leadership from three great teachers, Dr. He came in ninth in the qualifiers, and there were only eight seats available in the Indian Air Force, thus he simply missed realizing his dream of becoming a fighter pilot.Īfter graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1960, Kalam joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a scientist after becoming a member of the Defence Research & Development Service (DRDS). He earned a physics degree from this institution in 1954, and he moved to Madras in 1955 to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering there.
