V Narayanan appointed new ISRO chief, to succeed Somanath

Cryogenic engine expert V Narayanan has been appointed as the new Chairman of the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary of the Department of Space for a tenure of two years, effective January 14, 2025.

He will take over the mantle from the incumbent Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath.

Somanath had assumed charge as the Secretary, Department of Space, on January 14, 2022 for a three-year term. He became the toast of the nation after the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, when India became the first country in the world to land a rover in the south pole region of the Moon.

Narayanan is currently serving as the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of the ISRO at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

A pioneer in cryogenic propulsion, Narayanan will steer India's journey to excellence in space exploration including the high profile Gaganyaan mission, the human spaceflight programme of ISRO.

Narayanan, who will also be the Chairman of the Space Commission, played a key role in the development of the indigenous cryogenic engine, a technology that was denied to the country by Russia following pressure from the USA.

Narayanan is a distinguished scientist (APEX Scale) and seniormost director in ISRO.

The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre headed by him is engaged in the development of liquid, semi-cryogenic and cryogenic propulsion stages for launch vehicles and chemical and electric propulsion systems for satellites and control systems for launch vehicles.

Narayanan is also the Chairman of the Project Management Council-Space Transportation System (PMC-STS), the decision-making body in all launch vehicle projects and programmes.

He is also Chairman of the National Level Human Rated Certification Board (HRCB) for Gaganyaan.

Narayanan, a native of Tamil Nadu, joined ISRO in 1984 and became the director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in 2018.

In 1989, he completed MTech in Cryogenic Engineering with First Rank at IIT-Kharagpur and joined the Cryogenic Propulsion area in Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).