India entered a new era of commercial spaceflight on Saturday after Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 became the country’s first privately developed rocket to reach orbit. In an interview that aired on the same day, the founder of Skyroot, Pawan Kumar Chandana, recalled how he chose to take up a job at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) rather than opt for a higher-paying private sector job.
Who is Pawan Kumar Chandana?
Pawan Kumar Chandana is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace. An IIT Kharagpur alumnus, he was recruited by ISRO directly from the campus in 2012 and worked at the space agency for nearly six years before leaving to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions.
Chandana co-founded Skyroot Aerospace in 2018 with Naga Bharath Daka, another former ISRO engineer. The company launched Vikram-S, India’s first privately developed suborbital rocket, on 18 November 2022.
Skyroot Aerospace recently became India's first space tech unicorn after reaching $1.1bn valuation.
‘An unconventional choice’
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Chandana said he took a “risk” by choosing a government job after graduating from IIT Kharagpur with a dual BTech-MTech degree in mechanical engineering.
“From IIT to joining a government job is very unconventional. I took that leap, I took that risk,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“From IIT to joining a government job is very unconventional. I took that leap, I took that risk,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“I think my first salary was something like ₹40,000 a month,” Chandana recalled.
(Also read: Over 100 scientists quit Isro, govt steps in to tighten exit norms amid mass resignations: Reports)
The former ISRO scientist further said that he chose a government job because he enjoyed the work.
“I took that risk. Very rarely do people take the risk of taking a government job so early in their career. But for me, passion is more important. What I'm doing every day, 16 hours a day, is very important to me. That was the calling. So I chose to work on cutting-edge technology in the country instead of leaving the country, and that paid really well,” he explained.
‘Follow your passion’
In another interview with ThePrint, the former ISRO scientist and founder of a $1.1 billion startup advised youngsters to follow their passion without thinking about the pay.
"See, I joined ISRO at a salary of 35,000 rupees. We should never, never think about what the pay is. I feel if you want to make it big, just follow your passions, you'll have a most satisfying life,” Chandana advised.
He also recalled how aerospace engineering was discouraged when he joined IIT.
"When I joined IIT itself...the same talk, don't join aerospace engineering because there's not much opportunity there. The space sector today has created employment for 5,000 people in the last three to four years. I think that's just the beginning,” he said.
(Also read: Who is Pawan Kumar Chandana, Skyroot CEO behind India’s historic Vikram-1 launch?)