Udupi Ramachandra Rao, an internationally renowned space scientist who had been at the forefront of developing space technology in India, passed away at the age of 85 in Bengaluru on Monday morning. He was the scientist who spearheaded the establishment of satellite technology in the country and the launch of India's first satellite, Aryabhata, in 1975.
He had been diagnosed with a heart disease in the past and succumbed to the ailment in the early hours of Monday, according to reports.
Born in Adamaru, Udupi, in Karnataka on March 1932, he completed his Bachelor of Sciences from Madras University in