Manoranjan Rao is a veteran space scientist and author from India.
In his career spanning over three decades — including over two decades at the Indian Space Research Organisation's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre — he has done extensive research in areas including the physics of lightning discharge, ionospheric physics, magnetospheric physics, VLF and ELF wave propagation, electrostatics of launch vehicles, electrostatic charging of communications satellites, EMI/EMC and lightning protection for launch vehicles.
He has edited and authored three books on India's space history.