Dr V Narayanan: The rocket scientist who will now lead ISRO

Dr V Narayanan will take over as the next chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary of the Department of Space. He will replace legendary S. Somnath on January 14, the last day of the latter's term.

An official order was issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday (Jan 7), stating that Narayanan will serve for the next two years or until further notice. He is currently the director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram, and a unit in Bengaluru.

The official appointment order reads:

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Also Read: ISRO Chairman Dr. S. Somanath recalls his early days at ISRO, what it takes to be a space scientist

Meet Dr V Narayanan: The new ISRO chairman

• V Narayanan completed his schooling, DME (First Rank), and AMIE in Mechanical Engineering. He later pursued an M.Tech. (First Rank) in Cryogenic Engineering, followed by his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering. After completing his DME, he worked at TI Diamond Chain Ltd, Madras Rubber Factory, BHEL Trichy, and BHEL Ranipet.

• He is a scientist with nearly four decades of experience in rocket and spacecraft propulsion. He joined ISRO in 1984 and has worked in various important roles.Dr Narayanan became the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), one of ISRO’s major centres.
  
  

  

• In the early years of his career, he worked in the solid propulsion area of sounding rockets and contributed to the development of the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

• He contributed to process control, process planning, and the realisation of ablative nozzle systems, composite motor cases, and composite igniter cases.

Also Read: Village boy to ISRO chief to IIT PhD: The inspirational journey of Dr S Somanath

Key achievements:

• Dr V Narayanan has made significant contributions, such as designing the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) for GSLV Mk-II and the powerful C25 Cryogenic Stage for GSLV Mk-III. Other significant missions that benefited from these technologies were Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3. Importantly, India became a self-reliant nation with respect to advanced propulsion systems even as international technologies were denied to it.
  
  

  

• He also chaired key bodies, such as the Project Management Council-Space Transportation System (PMC-STS) and the National Level Human Rated Certification Board (HRCB) for Gaganyaan, India’s planned human spaceflight mission.
  
  
• He has been honoured with a total of 25 awards and is a member of various national and international bodies. He has published multiple technical papers, including 1,200 internal ISRO reports and 50 journal and conference papers.

(With inputs from agencies)