Dr.V. R. Lalithambika (born 1962) is an Indian engineer and scientist who has been working with the

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

(ISRO). She is a specialist in Advanced Launcher Technologies and was leading the

Gaganyaan Gaganyaan (Sanskrit IAST: ''gagan-yāna'', ) is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people, and a planned upgrad ...

mission to send Indian astronauts to space by 2022.

Early life

Lalithambika was born in 1962 in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India. The proximity of her house to the

Thumba Thumba is a coastal area of Thiruvananthapuram city, the capital of Kerala, India. Location and geography Thumba is a vast village bordering Menamkulam in the east, St. Dominic's Vettucaud in the north, and Kochuthura in the south; towards its ...

rocket testing centre got her fascinated by ISRO, right from her childhood. Her exposure to science started very early primarily because of her grandfather, who used to make gadgets like lenses, microscopes, etc at the house itself and also kept her updated about ISRO’s work. Her grandfather was a mathematician, an astronomer, and a gadget-maker. Her father was also an engineer. She studied B. Tech. in

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

at the

College of Engineering, Trivandrum The College of Engineering Trivandrum, commonly known as CET, is the first engineering college in Kerala, situated in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. It was founded in 1939 during the reign of the Travancore King, Chithira Thir ...

and later pursued her M. Tech. in

Control Engineering Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...

at the

. She worked at two colleges before joining ISRO. She did her Ph. D. while working with ISRO.

Career

Lalithambika is a specialist in Advanced Launch Vehicle Technology. She had joined the

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, in the India ...

(VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, in 1988. She led a team that designed rocket control and guidance systems. She has worked with various ISRO rockets including the

Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle or Advanced Satellite Launch Vehicle, also known as ASLV, was a small-lift launch vehicle five-stage solid-fuel rocket developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to place 150 kg satellite ...

(ASLV),

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...

(PSLV) and

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is an expendable launch system operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). GSLV was used in fourteen launches from 2001 to 2021. Even though GSLV Mark III shares the name, it is an ...

(GSLV) and

Reusable Launch Vehicle A reusable launch vehicle have parts that can be recovered and reflown, while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space. Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as rocket engines and boost ...

(RLV). She has been a part of over 100 space missions. Before moving to

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

headquarters in

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, she was the Deputy Director (control, guidance and simulation) at

VSSC The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, in the Indi ...

, Thiruvananthapuram. She will lead the

mission as the Director of the

Indian Human Spaceflight Programme The Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (IHSP) was initiated in 2007 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop the technology needed to launch crewed orbital spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The first uncrewed flight, named G ...

which is intended to send Indian astronauts into space by 2022.

Awards

She was awarded the Space Gold Medal (2001), ISRO Individual Merit Award and ISRO Performance Excellence Award (2013). She has also won Astronautical Society of India award for excellence in launch vehicle technology. In 2023 she was awarded the highest French civilian order

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

for boosting space cooperation between India and France.

Personal life

Her husband Pradeep Kumar A.B. is former Chairman of Kerala State Pollution Control Board.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lalithambika, V. R. 1962 births Indian women engineers 20th-century Indian women scientists Engineers from Kerala Scientists from Kerala 21st-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian scientists 20th-century Indian engineers Living people 20th-century women engineers 21st-century women engineers