Mr. S.K. Shivkumar is one of the movers and shakers for the Chandrayaan mission. He is director of the ISRO satellite tracking system, somebody who will continuously talk to the Chandrayaan satellite when it is four lakh kms away.

He was born in Mysore the place where rockets were first conceived in some people say in the world by Tipu Sultan. If his conversation fails, then we will have silence from Chandrayaan.

Pallava Bagla: So how are the preparations for Chandrayaan mission?
S K Shivkumar: We have been preparing like any other mission and of course it is more special because we are doing it for the first time, so naturally every detail is being addressed. We are now in the preparatory phase, what we call the pre-launch stimulation phase, and also testing of both hardware and software systems, procedures, everything is going on concurrently in this control centre. So this is much more serious than any other previous mission because other missions we had our own experience. But this time we don't want to leave

Pallava Bagla: Are you ready to take Chandrayaan on
S K Shivkumar: Yes, we are ready to take Chandrayaan on certainly yes. As these tests will make it more robust, the systems will get exercised more and more often, people will get used to it, so naturally that makes it much more robust and strong enough to face the mission, all procedures will be in place, so naturally we'll be..

Pallava Bagla: And you are sure you will be able to talk to Chandrayaan when it is four lakh km away?
S K Shivkumar: Even earlier also we had to do the talking because four lakh km is reached not just in one day. Naturally it takes its own time. Right from injection of this spacecraft into the orbit we'll take over the satellite from our ground stations and the control centre. So that is where the journey begins to moon. That is all how one looks at it. So we'll acquire this satellite over our ground station at Biak in Indonesia and then onwards the data will be flashed onto the screens here after due processing at the control centre and computer centre. Then we will take over the satellite with issue of commands from the same place where it is coming here. You can see the command consoles .

Pallava Bagla: So this is where from which you will control the satellite in the first few weeks?
S K Shivkumar: This is from where the commands to Chandrayaan-1 will go and this is only place from where the commands will go. We have made main and redundant communication links of commands as you can see here so..

Pallava Bagla: So what will happen on the main console on that particular day?
S K Shivkumar: On that particular day the people who are sitting here only will be operating the spacecraft, sending the commands, so they have been given a set of procedures, what we call the sequence of events flashed onto their screens. From there they will pick up the commands and then enable those commands to really go to the spacecraft and all ground stations.

Pallava Bagla: So data from here will go to that big dish which you have created?
S K Shivkumar: This is only one of the ground stations of Chandrayaan which we have created. We have to use the ground stations spread all over the world in fact..

Pallava Bagla:The Indonesian, the American, the Russian, all of them..
S K Shivkumar:Yes, depending upon, let us say that we want to send the command, initially after the spacecraft separation is over we have a certain set of commands to be sent from near ground station. So the gentleman who is sitting here will be given instruction to say that yes, we can enable the command to the spacecraft. So he process the requirement to make sure that the command message goes to the ground station on a communication link established between the control station and the ground station. From there it really goes to the spacecraft. We get the responses back from the spacecraft that is flashed on all the other screens to say that the command has operated, whether it has done the function or not.

Pallava Bagla:But you also created that very large dish or saucer, in Byalalu. Now what is the purpose of creating such a large dish?
S K Shivkumar:That is meant for the same functions, satellite control functions, both in terms of the reception of the down link signal from the satellite and also to send the uplink signals to the spacecraft in terms of the commands; that is one function. And also it will be useful for what we call the ranging of the satellite, to determine the position of the satellite through the mission.

Pallava Bagla: Now why did you need such a large dish? Why could you not do with a small one? You have done so many small ones. Why did you need a large one?
S K Shivkumar: For Chandrayaan, as you have rightly pointed out, four hundred thousand kms would be the distance once the Chandrayaan really gets into the moon's orbit. The signals from that distance will certainly be very weak and we cannot afford to have much of facility here wherein satellite cannot be made very complex. We can put only reasonable size of antenna on board. So what we can do is to make it as comfortable as possible on the ground and make sure that we get the signal. Once you have larger aperture antenna, that is bigger the diameter .

Pallava Bagla: So bigger the diameter, the better the quality of signal you can pump up?
S K Shivkumar: That's what it is. It will be possible for us to capture even weaker signals. Essentially that is the one which gives us the capability to really get the weaker signals from deep space. That is why we chose an antenna which we can manage in terms of 32 m. Okay that is the one feasibility study when we did we found that if we can do it for Chandrayaan mission. But it is not restricted for Chandrayaan. Chandrayaan can work even with 18 m antenna. But this our deep space network antenna that we have built, it is meant for Chandrayaan to start with, but any deep space mission to come in future.

Pallava Bagla: So meaning now when you want to go to, ISRO wants to take to Mars, want to go to an asteroid, which is what you have big dreams about
S K Shivkumar: Yes, any of deep space missions, ground facility is available for India to look at and that can be used for any deep mission to come in future. That is how the whole system has unfolded .

Pallava Bagla: So the conversations can happen between the aircraft, and ISRO can control them?
S K Shivkumar: Yes, that is what, it is meant for that and the deep space, we have built it, the antenna that we have built is having all features which anywhere else you can find..

Pallava Bagla: Is it world class?
S K Shivkumar: It is world class antenna system with specifications which are compatible with any other system anywhere in the world. So to that extent it becomes an intraoperational system for anybody else also.

Pallava Bagla: So at some point others can also hire your system? So it may not just be that only ISRO is using, you can also .
S K Shivkumar: Yes, as far as we are concerned in the near future when Chandrayaan mission is taken, then it has to work for about twelve hours per day. Other twelve hours is available for this antenna system. So for others, if they are interested and they want the system, then we can certainly give it to them for their services.

Pallava Bagla: So it is not an investment for today, it is an investment for future
S K Shivkumar: Future, it has the business opportunities in terms of service providing capability for anybody else's mission and it is compatible with any other spacecraft which will follow this international standard. That is how we have designed the system, that is what we have realized.
Pallava Bagla: And what will happen further - from here you will shift it to another room? The whole two year life, because you will want to do more satellites from here, it will go to another room where you will control it for two years
S K Shivkumar: As you see now the system is very elaborate. We want us, you know we want as many people as possible in the initial phase, the critical phase in the mission, where the people who have built the systems on the satellite, we have built the experiments, all of them need to look at the data very closely. Plus everything thing becomes fairly well checked out in orbit and everything is declared normal, the routine phase of the mission begins where in that phase the work would be to maintain the satellite health, keep the orbit under control and also operate the science experiments as per the mission requirements. All these things put together will not need so much of infrastructure. We'll prepare this room for next mission, but these gentlemen who are handling the satellite will become the normal face operations through..

Pallava Bagla:.. for Chandrayaan
S K Shivkumar: And they will be able to do it with one person in one shift with few consoles they will need to operate the..

Pallava Bagla: For two years you can manage looking after, or more maybe
S K Shivkumar: No problems. If the satellite behaves very well you know and if fuel is available on the satellite we don't mind running the mission for extended..

Pallava Bagla: So making this world class facility, so have you had training in something like NASA or other places or are you home grown and home talented?
S K Shivkumar: We are all home grown people, we are the people who built the systems in earlier missions, but of course experience matters for all these things. With good experienced crew we have been able to pick up this facility, which as you have rightly pointed out probably you'll see similar facility elsewhere in the world or this may be one, something slightly better than what you would see otherwise.

Pallava Bagla: But where is the kind of schooling or college you've had? Is it some kind of overseas training or you are very close to Bangalore or someplace?
S K Shivkumar: I am from Bangalore and I studied in IISC, joined ISRO..

Pallava Bagla: Oh so you have studied at one of the best science colleges we have, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. And what did you do there?
S K Shivkumar: I did my engineering, bachelors and post graduation from there and then joined ISRO straight

Pallava Bagla: How many years have you spent at ISRO?
S K Shivkumar: Thirty plus.

Pallava Bagla:Thirty plus years at ISRO! And all doing rocketry and doing satellites
S K Shivkumar: Satellites, mission planning and rest of the activities.

Pallava Bagla: And you were born in Mysore?
S K Shivkumar: Yes.

Pallava Bagla:And Mysore is also the place where they say rocketry was born by Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. The first use of missile.
S K Shivkumar:Yes, yes. That is correct, okay. Historically you can think those things but happen to be there

Pallava Bagla: So did you have kind of influence from that historical record?
S K Shivkumar: No I don't know, maybe we have breathed the air, that is all I can say and I have taken the same Cauvery water as anybody else would have drink..

Pallava Bagla: And now you are breathing, looking at outer space as the next big frontier?
S K Shivkumar: Yes, yes, that is how I look at it. It is more of having home grown and being associated with ISRO for such a long time, we always enjoy doing this work from scratch and with the systems we feel very proud about that, and we continue to be doing work which is enhancing our own knowledge is one thing and gives immense satisfaction once you handle space missions, that's specially whatever you do first time it is really something .

Pallava Bagla: Are you excited about Chandrayaan?
S K Shivkumar: Yes, very much excited and nervous, both. We are doing that yes, we are doing our best, but at the same time space has its own uncertainties etc but we will do our best, and pray god that everything really gets well for us. That is how I would look at it.

So there you have it. Mr. Shiva Kumar, somebody who was born where rockets were born for the world, which is in the Mysore region, where Tipu Sultan and Haider Ali first used rockets as missiles. Somebody who says he's breathed the same air, drank the same water from the Cauvery and is now looking for doing missions in outer space for India.