Ritu Karidhal Srivastava is an Indian scientist and aerospace engineer working in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). She was a Deputy Operations Director to India’s Mars orbital mission, Mangalyaan. She has been referred to as one of the many “Rocket Women” of India. Giving tribute to her excellence in Mangalayaan mission, a Bollywood film Mission Mangal was created where Indian actress Vidya Balan did her role.

Ritu Karidhal has worked for ISRO since 1997. She played a key role in the development of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan, dealing with the detailing and the execution of the craft’s onward autonomy system. She was also the Deputy Operations Director of this mission.

Mangalyan was one of the greatest achievements of ISRO. It made India the fourth country in the world to reach Mars. It was done in 18 months time and at a far lesser cost to the taxpayers – ₹450 crores only. Her job was to conceptualize and execute the craft’s onward autonomy system, which operated the satellite’s functions independently in space and responded appropriately to malfunctions.

She supervised the Chandrayaan 2 mission as the mission director.

When the United Kingdom assumed presidency of the G7 in 2021, Karidhal was appointed by the country’s Minister for Women and Equalities Liz Truss to a newly formed Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) chaired by Sarah Sands.

Again in 2023, India launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission to land on the lunar South pole and finally India became the first country to soft land on the lunar South pole. Ritu Karidhal too worked for the same mission and led India to this huge success.