For every country having a defence program is essential to dissuade the foreign aggressive powers from annihilating lives and property. Space programmes on the other hand are ambitious national initiatives to usher in progress in science and technology and also contribute to the trove of scientific knowledge for a country. As far as the achievements of space programs in India are concerned, the nation has successfully claimed the laurels one after another since the launching of the Indian National Satellite system series in the year 1983, followed by the geosynchronous satellites, the Chandrayaan I in the year 2008, which was India’s first lunar mission, the Mars orbiter mission in the year 2014, followed by the recent Chandrayan III, which made its historical landing on the moon becoming the first nation to reach the South Pole of the moon.
The defence program of India has consolidated its success by designing surface missiles like Agni and Prithvi, followed by designing long-range ballistic missiles, and also air missiles like Akash and Trishul. However, none of these success stories of India’s space and defence programs can be complete without mentioning the missile wizard Tessy Thomas, also known as Agni Putri, and the missile woman of India for her contribution to the development of ballistic missiles and India’s defence research programs.
Born in the year 1963 at Alappuzha in Kerala, Tessy Thomas has always been close to rocket launching and missiles thanks to the close proximity of her humble dwelling to the Thumba equatorial rocket launching station. Witnessing these miracles of science making their way across galaxies is something that has always stimulated the sense of wonder and curiosity in Tessy Thomas which made her choose a career at DRDO instead of an IAS officer for which she had appeared for the UPSC exams. It was when she cleared the interview at the former, she realised that her association with Indian space and defence research was going to yield more exciting results for her future and also satiate her hunger for adventure more than the job of a government officer. Ever since she joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation in the year 1988 under the guidance of APJ Abdul Kalam, the Missile Man of India, she has continued to learn under his tutelage and initiatives. However, her first opportunity to bag achievements for her country in India’s space and defence program arrived when she was made the project director of the Agni Missiles.
Tessy Thomas’s association with the Agni Missiles started in the year 1986 when she was a faculty member at IIT Pune in guided missiles and even conceptualised the prototype design of the long-range missile systems. In the 32 years of her career, Tessy Thomas has contributed majorly in fields like inertial navigation, mission designing, trajectory simulation, and so on. It was her illustrious career that fetched her multiple rewards. But no reward could justify the contribution she has made to the country’s space and defence program, especially because she had continued to set an example for the young women of the country, who have unparalleled scientific acumen and merit, but lack the inspiration and motivation to pursue their expertise.
It was her brilliance and remarkable academic credentials that she was appointed as a member of the team of 50 scientists who were working on inertial navigation under the initiative of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Although the concept of missiles is synonymous with that of destruction, it was from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam that Tessy Thomas had learnt that these very missiles that she would help to develop might have destructive possibilities but they can be wielded as weapons of peace as well.
One of the biggest obstacles that the Indian space and defence program experienced under the leadership of Tessy Thomas for the Agni Project was that each and every part of the missile technology had to be designed within the country as no one was ready to provide the necessary technology for that. It was because of this challenge that Tessy Thomas missile woman of India decided to stay strong and resolute, and even after the failure of the first flight of Agni 3, she did not lose hope and continued to work towards the goal of developing a successful development flight of the missiles. As perseverance always pays off, Tessy Thomas and her team were not disappointed either. It was her unwavering determination and unconditional hard work that helped her and her team to succeed in bringing the weapons program of DRDO to a successful completion. It was because of Tessy Thomas’s leadership and contribution that currently India can boast of the Agni 5 ballistic missiles which are capable of enduring a temperature of 3000 degrees Celsius with high velocity even on entering the atmosphere. Her success story was officially recognised when the Agni 5 missile was successfully launched in the year 2012 from the Wheeler Island of Odisha. It can be said that the 70 to 80% of self-dependency in technologies that India has currently gained in their space and defence research can be accredited to Tessy Thomas and her team at the DRDO. In fact, it can be said that it is under the guidance and leadership of Tessy Thomas that currently India holds a very dominating position in terms of expertise on ballistic missiles.
The space and defence programs of India hold testimony to India’s unhindered development and progress in the field of national security and technology. However, it is the inspiring journey of Tessy Thomas that is intricately woven into this fabric of success for India. By making some tough choices trying to balance her professional and personal life and pouring all her dedication and commitment towards her passion for missiles, Tessy Thomas has emerged as a role model for several women scientists who have learned that not all educated women have to choose the conventional path of becoming a doctor or an engineer or stick to the regular role of a homemaker. It is because of Tessy Thomas that India has learned that with absolute dedication and unmatchable merit, anyone can add one feather of success after another to the hat, not just as a personal accomplishment but as an achievement for the motherland as well.
