Who is Pawan Kumar Chandana? The IIT graduate behind Vikram-1

Until a few years ago, Pawan Kumar Chandana was one of many engineers working quietly at ISRO. Outside the space community, hardly anyone knew his name.Today, that's changed.On Saturday, as Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 successfully reached orbit from Sriharikota, Chandana found himself at the heart of one of the biggest moments in India's private space journey. The mission wasn't just another rocket launch. It was the first time a privately built Indian rocket successfully entered orbit, a milestone many believed was still years away.For Chandana, it was the result of a decision that once seemed almost impossible to justify—walking away from a secure job at ISRO to build a rocket company from scratch.Growing up in HyderabadChandana was born and raised in Hyderabad in a middle-class family, where education was always taken seriously.By all accounts, he wasn't one of those children who topped every exam without trying.