Some people appear to walk naturally into the spotlight, making it seem as though they were always destined to achieve exceptional things. But a closer look at their journeys often reveals a fair share of challenges, difficult choices, and persistent effort. One such example is Ashish Ranjan. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering as a university medalist with a GPA of 9.57 out of 10. His first job after college was in India’s nuclear program under the Department of Atomic Energy. After qualifying through the competitive national-level screening process conducted by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, he entered the BARC Training School, the official training program of the Department of Atomic Energy in nuclear science and engineering. Completing this program led him to the highly sought-after position of Scientific Officer in India’s nuclear program.

However, Ashish’s passion rested in India’s space program and the Indian Space Research Organisation. In 2018, the young engineer qualified through ISRO’s highly competitive entrance examination and stringent interview process, securing All India Rank 4. At ISRO, he began contributing to space technology through his work on the Vikas engine, a liquid-propulsion rocket engine that uses earth-storable propellants. Ashish worked on several ISRO missions, with key responsibilities involving the assembly, integration, testing, and reliable functioning of Vikas engines used in the lower stages of major launch vehicles such as the PSLV, GSLV, and LVM3. He worked closely on the assembly, integration, and flight readiness of the engine associated with PSLV-C46, which successfully launched RISAT-2B, a 615-kilogram radar-imaging Earth-observation satellite, into an orbit approximately 555 kilometers above Earth. Unlike an ordinary optical camera, radar imaging can collect useful observations independently of daylight and is less restricted by cloud cover. Such Earth-observation capabilities support crop and land monitoring, forest assessment, and the rapid observation of areas affected by floods, cyclones, and other natural disasters.