Nambi Narayanan with Arun Ram

S. Nambi Narayanan is a mechanical engineer and one of the pioneers of India's space science programme. He holds a master's degree in chemical rocket propulsion from Princeton University and played a central role in developing the Vikas engine, based on technology transfer from the French Viking engine. In the 1990s he was falsely accused of selling space technology secrets in the ISRO spy case, and it took several years for the CBI to exonerate him. Ready To Fire, co-authored with senior journalist Arun Ram, meticulously examines the fabricated case, the intelligence and political interests behind it, and the decade-long delay it imposed on India's cryogenic engine development.