; October 15, 1931 – July 27, 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist who was the eleventh President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied aerospace physics and engineering. He became known as the Missile Man of India for his work in developing ballistic missiles and launch vehicle technology. He also played a critical organizational, technical, and political role in the Indian Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since India’s original nuclear test in 1974. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a leading Indian scientist who was the eleventh President of India from 2002 to 2007. Known for his critical role in the country’s civil space program and the development of military missiles, he was known as the Missile Man of India.
In the 1970s, Kalam also directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant, who attempted to develop ballistic missiles using the technology of the successful SLV program. Despite the disapproval of the Union cabinet, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has allocated secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under Kalam’s leadership. Kalam played an integral role in convincing the Union cabinet to hide the true nature of these classified space projects. In the 1970s, Abdul Kalam directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant. It was an early liquid fuel missile project aimed at producing a short-range surface-to-air missile. This project was unsuccessful and was suspended in the 1980s and then led to the development of the Prithvi missile.
In fact, he was closely involved in India’s nuclear tests and the military missile program, giving it the name “Missile Man”. In 2007, he received the King Carlos II Medal from the Royal Society, which “was awarded to foreign heads of state or government who have made an excellent contribution to promoting scientific research in their country.”. The Prithvi missile is a family of surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missiles and is the first ballistic missile native to India. Prithvi’s development began in 1983 and was first tested on February 25, 1988 in Sriharikota, SHAR Center, Potti Sriramulu Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. The land variant is called Prithvi, while the operational naval variants of the Prithvi I and Prithvi II class missiles are codenamed Dhanush . A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was an aerospace scientist who joined the Indian Department of Defense after graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology.
In 2002, the then National Democratic Alliance delivered its decision to A.P.J. Present Abdul Kalam as President of India to outgoing President K.R. Narayanan to follow. Both the Samajwadi party and the Nationalist Congress party supported his candidacy. A.P.J. Kalam also led several other projects in the 1970s, including the Devil Project. Project Devil was an early liquid fuel missile project aimed at producing a short-range surface-to-air missile. However, it led to the further development of the Prithvi missile in the 1980s. He was born into a Muslim family in what is now Tamil Nadu, and studied physics at a university affiliated with the University of Madras.
His hope of becoming a fighter pilot was undermined when he barely lost a place in the Indian Air Force. Kalam joined the Defense Research and Development Organization in 1958 as chief scientific assistant. After moving to the newly formed Indian Space Research Organization in 1969, he was appointed project manager for SLV-III, the first satellite launch vehicle designed and manufactured on Indian soil.
In 1997 Kalam received India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to scientific research and modernization of defense technology in India. In 2013, he received the Von Braun Prize from the National Space Society “for recognizing excellence in the management and leadership of a space-related project.”. He also participated in the Valiant Project, which focused on the development of intercontinental ballistic APJ Abdul Kalam Quotes missiles. As with Project Devil, this project was not a success in itself, but later played a role in the development of the Prithvi missile. The former president was a nuclear scientist, writer, poet, and educator who excelled in various areas and served the nation until its disappearance on this day in 2015 at the age of 83. He was honored with several prestigious awards, including India’s highest civil award “Bharat Ratna” in 1997.