Kalpana Kalahasti (born 1980) is an Indian scientist and aerospace engineer working in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). She currently serves as the deputy project director of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Kalpana has been instrumental in the construction of various satellites of India and was involved in the Chandrayaan-2 and Mangalyaan missions.
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Kalpana K
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| Born | 1980 (age 42–43)
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
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| Occupation | Aeronautical engineer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Organization | Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) |
Early life and education
Kalpana was born in Bengaluru in 1980. She graduated in aeronautical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Career
In 2003, she joined ISRO as a scientist. In the early years, Kalpana worked on various satellite projects and played a key role in the successful launch of several communication and remote sensing satellites. She has been at the forefront from developing propulsion systems for accurate satellite positioning to designing advanced imaging equipment to capture high-resolution images of the Earth. She eventually became a part of Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyan), a landmark project for ISRO and the Chandrayaan-2 mission. In 2019, she was appointed as the deputy project director of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and was instrumental in designing and optimising the lunar lander systems.