![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
U. R. Rao in 1983.
William K. Stevens/The New York Times
U.R. Rao
Died on July 24, 2017 at age 85
As a chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Professor Rao helped propel India’s first satellites into space in a quest for national self-sufficiency.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.