regarded as the father of India’s space programme. Born in Ahmedabad, India, he was educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge, England, where he specialized in solar physics and cosmic rays. In 1947 he founded the Physical Research Laboratory (the cradle of space sciences in India) in his home town. His research there led to the awareness that cosmic rays were a global phenomenon whose variations were linked to solar activity. Sarabhani founded the Indian Space Research Organization, the Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre (formerly the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, and India’s first). In the mid-1960s, Sarabhai also chaired India’s Atomic Energy Commission and initiated India’s space programme. He died in his sleep on 31 December 1971. For his visionary work in the field of space science, Sarabhai was decorated with two of India’s most honourable awards: the Padma Bhushan (1966) and the Padma Vibhushan (awarded posthumously in 1972).