Pune: Eknath Vasant Chitnis, who along with Vikram Sarabhai laid the foundation of India’s space programme, breathed his last here on Wednesday, family members said.
Chitnis turned 100 in July. He was unwell for the past few days and suffered a heart attack Wednesday morning, they said.
A visionary scientist and an institution builder, Chitnis played a crucial role in selecting the site for India’s first rocket launch at Thumba in Kerala. A meeting attended by the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarabhai and Chitnis in February 1962 at the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad laid the foundation of India’s space programme.