Pawan Kumar Chandana: Pawan Kumar Chandana, who got only 51 marks in Maths, cracked IIT in the first attempt, left ISRO job and now sent India’s first private rocket into space.
Pawan Kumar Chandana Success Story: If someone tells you that a student getting only 51 marks in Maths will later change the space history of India, then perhaps it would be difficult to believe. But the story of Pawan Kumar Chandana is exactly similar. The student who once struggled in mathematics, went on to crack IIT, worked on the country’s biggest rocket project at ISRO and then sent India’s first private rocket into space through his company Skyroot Aerospace. Read the inspiring and innovative story of Pawan Kumar Chandana, who hoisted the Indian flag in space…
Journey from number 51 to IIT
Growing up in an ordinary middle-class family in Hyderabad, Pawan had a deep love for machines and technology since childhood. He was always curious to know how things worked. However, book studies and especially mathematics were not easy for him during his school days. There was a time when he got only 51 marks in Maths. But low marks could never stop his curiosity. In difficult times, his father supported him unwaveringly and encouraged him. Gradually, the subjects which scared Pawan became his greatest strength. On the strength of his unwavering determination and passion for machines, Pawan cracked the country’s toughest exam, IIT Entrance, in the first attempt two decades ago and got admission in IIT Kharagpur.
Gave up package worth lakhs and chose ISRO
After completing his studies from IIT, while most of his peers were choosing jobs in private tech companies with packages worth lakhs of crores, Pawan’s focus was only on rockets and space. This dedication led him to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where he was recruited directly from the IIT campus. Even though the salary in ISRO was not as big as in the corporate sector, there he got the opportunity to be a part of the country’s space program, which was more than any package for him. During his 6-year tenure at Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, Pawan played a key role in the development of India’s heaviest launch vehicle, the GSLV Mk III. For his excellent contribution, he was also given ISRO’s Internal Innovation Award.
When the idea of private rocket came to mind
While working at ISRO, Pawan saw that India’s startup ecosystem was changing rapidly. A question started coming to his mind again and again, can rockets be made at private level, going out of the scope of government institutions? This was the idea that gave birth to a new revolution. In June 2018, Pawan took a bold decision to leave his secure and prestigious government job. He started Skyroot Aerospace in Hyderabad along with his fellow ISRO engineer and IIT Bombay graduate Naga Bharath Daka.
When Flipkart’s founder expressed confidence
Starting a private space company in India was not easy. This sector was new and investors were reluctant to invest money in it. There was a huge funding crisis in the initial days and then the Covid-19 pandemic further increased the challenges. At such a time, the first to express confidence in Pawan’s vision was Flipkart co-founder and IIT Kharagpur alumnus Binny Bansal, who invested $1.5 million in the company. After this, renewable energy company ‘Greenko’ and Silicon Valley’s Ram Shriram’s firm ‘Sherpalo Ventures’ also gave a new flight to Skyroot by providing huge funding.
Skyroot’s historical achievements
Successful test of Raman-1
In July 2020, Skyroot became the first private company in India to successfully test its rocket engine ‘Raman-1’. It was named after Nobel laureate CV Raman.
Historic agreement with ISRO
After the government opened up the space sector to private companies, Skyroot became the first private company to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ISRO. In November 2022, the company created history by launching India’s first private sub-orbital rocket into space by launching ‘Vikram-S’.
The country’s largest private plant
On May 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Skyroot, the country’s largest private rocket manufacturing facility. Started with a small idea of two engineers, today more than 1,000 employees are working in this company.
‘Fundamentals are important, not degrees’
Pawan Chandana believes that success is not achieved only by obtaining big degrees or garnering huge valuations, but by sticking to the fundamentals of business and technology. Giving the example of Dhirubhai Ambani to the youth, he says, ‘Dhirubhai Ambani did not have an MBA degree from Harvard, yet his business fundamentals were very strong. According to me, entrepreneurship is the best career option for the youth, because it gives you freedom, gives you a chance to build a country and gives you the power to generate employment for thousands of people. There are unlimited possibilities in the Indian space sector in the coming 10 years.