Innovating for the Nation by S Chandrashekar (with Y S Rajan) tells the story of Satish Dhawan and the making of India’s space programme—a landmark achievement of ambition, perseverance and indigenous innovation at the heart of independent India’s scientific story.
About Innovating for the Nation
After Vikram Sarabhai’s death in 1971, Dhawan took charge of ISRO. Over the next decade he built the technical expertise, organizational capabilities and institutional foundations that transformed India’s fledgling space effort into a world-class programme. His greatest contribution was ensuring that space technology served the needs of ordinary Indians.
Under his leadership came landmark initiatives including SITE, the Aryabhata and Bhaskara satellites, APPLE, and the INSAT and IRS programmes—foundations for India’s technological self-reliance. S. Chandrashekar and Y. S. Rajan, who worked closely with Dhawan at ISRO, are uniquely placed to tell this story.
Published under the India Viking imprint of Penguin Random House India, this 688-page hardback (ISBN 9789377300784) is scheduled for November 2026 with an India MRP of ₹1499. Innovating for the Nation celebrates Dhawan’s extraordinary contribution to nation-building and the determination that helped make India a spacefaring nation.
