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Not for profit website/blog on astronomy, space and my writing

Stephen Smith and Leslie Johnson. Development of rockets during the 1930s and letters from Calcutta to Liverpool

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Stephen Smith with two of his rockets. Sikkim 1935, Credit Leslie Johnson

I came across the Liverpool/Calcutta connection during my research into the life and work of Stephen H Smith. During 1934 and 1944, Smith undertook around 300 rocket experiments to demonstrate the utility of a rocket to transport mail, medicines, food and living creatures. Similar experiments were being conducted in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and the USA, but in India, for over a decade it was just Smith.

The British Interplanetary Society had been founded in Liverpool in 1933. Smith conducted his first rocket experiments in September 1934 and it was published in the BIS Bulletin in November 1934. Smith in Calcutta joined the BIS around this time and established regular correspondence with the Leslie Johnson, the BIS secretary, in Liverpool. Johnson’s daughter still has a file of letters Smith sent from Calcutta to Liverpool in the late 1930s.

My book (India’s Forgotten Rocket Pioneer) will be published by the end of March 2020 and contains many pictures of Smith, his rockets and quotes from his letters. Some from the Johnson collection but other sources too.I could not include many in the book – so I am sharing some more here. Click on any of the images below to open the gallery viewer.


  • Smith conducted his first rocket mail experiment on 30 September 1934. It appeared in the November 1934 issue of the BIS Bulletin.
    Credit National Air and Space Museum. Washington DC

  • In the early 1930s, the founders of  nascent rocketry societies (Phil Cleator of the BIS in UK and Edward Pendray of the AIS in USA) were swapping notes on the work on rocketry being conducted by Smith and Goddard. Goddard’s contribution was incomparable to that of Smith’s.
    3 April 1936  From Phil Cleater to Edward Pendray.  Credit National Air and Space Museum. Washington DC 
  • To help raise funds and raise the BIS profile, members could purchase BIS headed paper to use as “Member’s correspondence”. Smith used it widely especially when communicating with the media to assert his credentials. He also used it to write one of his many letters to Leslie Johnson in Liverpool.
    29 September 1937 Members Correspondence with BIS logo. Credit Leslie Johnson

  • Stephen Smith (sitting bottom left) in Calcutta with a mostly obscured rocket launch frame for his rockets behind him. 
    22 July 1938.  Credit Ramu M Srinivasa

  • Soon after the BIS was founded in Liverpool, the Manchester Interplanetary Society was established in nearby Manchester. Headed by Eric Burgess, it did not last long and was later subsumed in to the BIS when it was reformed after the World War II in London. The MIS was just as ambitius as the BIS and published a journal called The Astronaut. 
    August 1938 – Manchester Interplanetary Society’s journal – The Astronaut.  Credit National Air and Space Museum. Washington DC.

  •  7 November 1949. Stephen Smith to Robert Paganini. Transcript below.

    “You may mention that I have been working on these tests for over 12 years  and that my work and experiments were increasingly more and (more) until the war when the military wrote to me on numerous occasions for aid. Tell him that I was India’s Pioneer Rocket experimenter and that I am an Indian by birth, having been born in Shillong, Assam. You may mention that I have done work in the Himalayas and that my efforts have been recognised  in the USA and the whole of Europe and yet I’m the land of my birth I am ignored and last though not least, thousands of my rocket mail letters, cards and stamps are scattered around the world. If his excellency the governor, Dr Katju should be interested he should send for me for a private discussion on a field of experiments now occupying the world.  Thank you my good friend, thank you a thousand times and god bless you for your great kindness to me.” 
    7 November 1949. Credit Robert Paganini collection. Museum of Communication, Bern Switzerland.

  •   2 March 1950 From Stephen Smith to Robert Paganini
     Smith complaining that he has not received a response from any senior politicians including Prime Minister Nehru. “I have not heard a line from H.E. Dr Katju or Dr B. L Roy or Pandit Nehru. They will not have anything to do with anyone, except one who is an India. This is life.” 
      2 March 1950 Credit Robert Paganini collection. Museum of Communication, Bern Switzerland. 
  • Smith hints at an “offer of his services” but cannot tell anyone.
    6 April 1946 from Stephen Smith to Robert Paganini    . Credit Robert Paganini collection. Museum of Communication, Bern Switzerland

  • Extract from Robert Paganini’s will. Paganini died on 6 December 1950. He left a quarter of his estate to Stephen Smith – someone he had never met. Smith himself died three months later.
    Credit Robert Paganini collection. Museum of Communication, Bern Switzerland. 

Episode 90 – An update on ISRO’s activities with S Somanath and R Umamaheshwaran

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R Umamaheshwaran (Scientific Secretary) and S Somanath (Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre)

This interview with S Somanath (director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre) and R Umamaheshwaran (Scientific Secretary) was recorded on 24th October 2019 during the International Astronautical Congress in Washington DC. It was not focused on a specific theme but rather an update on all things ISRO – current and future activities. We spoke about ISRO’s potential participation with NASA on its Artemis programme, ISRO’s innovative Orbital Platform (repurposing the 4th stage of a PSLV), Human Spaceflight and Gaganyaan, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, Semi Cryogenic engine development, potential new launch site Kulasekharapattan, Chandrayaan-2 and future international collaboration.

The award-winning book mentioned is Integrated Design for Space Transportation System by B.N Suresh and K. Suresh.

The conversation started with India’s bid to be the host for IAC2022. The other candidates were Brazil, Singapore and Azerbaijan. The day after this recording it was announced that the International Astronautical Federation selected Azerbaijan.

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Some of the topics we covered are listed below

  • India, along with Singapore, Azerbaijan and Brazil were candidate countries to host 2022 IAC. India hosted the IAC 1988 and 2007. This interview was recorded a day before the announcement was made. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan was selected as the host for 2022.
  • Potential ISRO participation with NASA’s Artemis programme return to the Moon. Italy and Japan will join NASA. (ISRO remains uncommitted at this stage).
  • PS4 Orbital Platform – ISRO is making use of the 4th stage of the PSLV to host payload in LEO for several months after it has completed the delivery of the primary payload(s). It will be augmented with RCS and propulsion system to maintain attitude and orbit – potentially indefinitely! Solar panel on the outside will deliver up to 100W. End of mission, the platform will comply with agreed guidelines – to a minimum perigee of 500km if not deorbit.
  • Gaganyaan – Coming up parachute tests by end of this year, launch abort t(in-flight) test. Uncrewed test flight next year and 2021. Crewed flight to LEO by 2022 is still on target.
  • Crew selection process is still progressing. Selection criteria require test pilot experience so females will not be part of the first crew. The first flight will consist of a crew of 3. Initially, a team of 4 will go to Russia for astronaut training – a single backup. (Surprising – I would have expected at least 6 for two teams – primary and back up).
  • Human Spaceflight and Exploration conference in Bangalore, India in January 2020. This mission is to generate public awareness of India’s Gaganyaan programme. Rakesh Sharma and astronauts from other countries will also be present.
  • Small Satellite Launch vehicle (SSLV) to address the newly developing market for small satellites. Currently, small satellites use rideshare that does not offer customised timing or orbit. Both are determined by the primary payload. The SSLV to only from Sriharikota.
  • The reference in the Indian (Google translation from original Telegu) press for a proposed new launch site in Kulasekharapattan is not really taken seriously by ISRO. Initially to be launched from Sriharikota but may develop a mobile launcher in the future. Sea launch is not under consideration at the present.
  • Alternative launch sites may come in the future but currently, Sriharikota’s launch capacity is not being used fully.
  • ISRO’s first mission to Venus (Shukriyaan) to be launched in 20203. Mass and mission architecture already defined. Aditya-L1 – launch in the second half of 2022. Mars Orbiter Mission 2, architecture not yet finalised – may include lander and rover. No date yet.
  • Chandrayan-3 – not announced yet but there will be a Chandrayaan-3 and more.
  • Failure Analysis Committee investigating. ISRO has a fairly good idea from the data on what went wrong. So far – hard landing resulting in spacecraft damage. Why did it happen? The problem is a minor due to “dispersion”? i.e. something was off-nominal but would not say if hardware or software issue? The FAC report will be publically published.
  • Space station – announced by the ISRO chairman. It will happen but no timeline.
  • Reusable Launch Vehicle second mission will involve an airdrop and land on a strip at Chitradurga in Karnataka. Target date – December 2019.
  • Semi cryogenic engine. Engine development in progress with a target date of 2022. Testing and significant progress will take place AFTER the Gaganyaan mission is over.
  • Next GSLV-Mk3 scheduled for mid-2020 for comsat launches.
  • Will India use the name “astronaut”? ISRO will conduct something in the way of a public poll and make a formal decision.
  • Gaganyaan will not be one-off. May go to the Moon, ISS or participate in Artemis. ISRO not ruling out anything.
  • ISRO continuing to cooperate with Russia, France, ESA, the USA, Collaboration with China is also possible. Two experiments from the Indian Institute of Science will be conducted on the Chinese Space Station. Collaboration with China in science is straight forward but at the agency level – that may come in the future

Space Museum at BM Birla Science Centre. Hyderabad

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Pranav Sharma
Museum Curator

On 26 July 2019, India’s first public space museum opened its doors in Hyderabad. With support from ISRO, the 9000 sq ft is now devoted to pictures, models and stories about India’s space programme.

Billed as India’s first space museum but that title really goes to the VSSC Space Museum housed in St Mary Magdalene Church, in Thumba. It was the headquarters of was then known as INCOSPAR and became ISRO in 1969. This Church museum is located inside the sprawling Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, an operational ISRO site, so access to it is restricted and must be booked in advance.

The initial 24 exhibits in this new space museum include scale models of Indian Launch vehicles GSLV Mark III, GSLV Mark II and PSLV, Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter spacecraft, APPLE, Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Rohini RS-1 and a model of the International Space Station.  

The exhibits were collected over two years by the curator, Pranav Sharma.  Sharma who is an engineer, a scientist, a TedX speaker and a science communicator has put together an attractive set of exhibits to inform, educate and entertain visitors of all ages about India’s space programme. This rich eclectic collection of exhibits includes lines from William Shakespeare, Dillon Thomas and even lyrics from a Coldplay track.

The new Space Museum inside the Birla Science Centre is open to the public and is first of a series that will be set up around India in the coming years. The museum doe not really have a website, other than this and the Birla Science Centre website does not give any prominence to this new resource. Despite the numerous compelling exhibits, the space museum lacks tactile and interactive exhibits that especially children are so fond of handling and engaging with.

Sharma offers a taste of the experience in this 40-minute youtube video, an online tour of the museum and invites visitors to come and visit in person.

A 40 minute Youtube video tour of the museum

New Book: Stephen H Smith: India’s Forgotten Rocket Pioneer

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A new book provides a detailed account of the life and work of Stephen H Smith.

Now available. For discount codes and purchase options look here.

During 1934 and 1944 in Calcutta, he worked alone and unsupported on developing rocket transport. In 1935, he was the first to demonstrate the successful transport by a rocket of livestock, food and medicine.

The book charts the story of Stephen H Smith, described by a contemporary as “the greatest one-man campaign for rocketry”. He dedicated his life working alone in northeast India to develop a new revolutionary means of transport using rocket power.

The development of rockets in India is commonly understood to have ended with Tipu Sultan in 1799 and started again in 1963 with what is now called the Indian Space Research Organisation. However, in the intervening period, rockets were built, and championed by one man, working alone in Calcutta. In 1925 he set up the Indian Air Mail Society and it is amongst the philatelic community globally where his work is still known but is almost entirely forgotten from the popular imagination in India.

On 14 February 1891, Stephen H Smith, the only son of a tea plantation manager originally from Norfolk, England was born in the Strawberry Hill region of Shillong. Between 1934 and 1944, he conducted over 200 rocket experiments to demonstrate the utility of a rocket as a means of transport.

The 20th century was the harbinger for new revolutionary means of transport. Trains, airships, aeroplanes and automobiles were the key technologies fueling the developed nations. Mesmerised by aeroplanes as a child he engaged head-on with the new and transformative technology of rockets as an adult. In September 1934, he conducted his first rocket experiment to transport mail from a ship on the Hooghly River to the Sagar Island. In the decade that followed he conducted over 200 experiments. He built multi-staged rockets, and boomerang rockets and tested compressed air and gas as propellants. Like many early rocket mail experimenters, he supported his experiments financially by flying specially designed souvenir covers on his rockets. These flown items carrying his recognisable signature are spread around the world and even today can fetch up to $20,000 each.

Small self-funded groups to develop rockets were established in USSR, USA, Britain, Australia and Germany. It was from these groups that Sergei Korolev and Wernher von Braun emerged and competed in the epic space race that resulted in Sputnik, Gagarin and Apollo 11. Stephen H Smith was their contemporary but worked alone and unsupported in India. This book reveals the challenges faced by one man working alone at the forefront of new ground-breaking technology.

Long after he had died, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the American Airmail Society in 1989. In 1992, a year after the centenary of his birth, the Indian government celebrated his achievements by issuing a stamp and a first-day cover dedicated to his work. Today his work is found in official NASA publications, the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society and in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

Smith’s work inspired a science fiction story during his lifetime. Human achievements in space – the Apollo programme, the International Space Station and India’s accomplishments including Mars Orbiter Mission at Mars and Chadrayaan on the Moon owe more than just inspiration to those early rocket pioneers during the early 1930s around the world including Stephen Smith in India.

A new study of his contacts with the King of Sikkim, with King George V, with a member of parliament in London and a 25 year-long correspondence with a Swiss philatelist reveal in his own words his struggle to attain recognition and support for his work. His reluctant attempt to work with the military authorities in India during World War II ended in frustration. His multiple attempts in 1949 to contact the Governor of Bengal and Prime Minister Nehru in the newly independent India failed to generate a response.

Stephen Smith lived and worked through some of the darkest periods of the 20th century, the Great Depression, World War Two, the Bengal Famine and the post-Indian Independence riots in Calcutta. In December 1950 his mentor and friend in Switzerland Dr Robert Paganini died leaving him, someone he had never spoken with or ever met, a part of his will. Sadly, Stephen Smith himself died two months later.

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