Cryogenic expert V Narayanan named ISRO Chief, to take over from S Somanath in January

The Centre has chosen V Narayanan as the next chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary of the Department of Space. On January 14, Narayanan will succeed S Somanath, the organisation's current leader. In a notification issued on Tuesday, the Cabinet Appointments Committee stated that Narayanan, the head of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Valiamala, will serve for two years.



Narayanan, who will also serve as Chairman of the Space Commission, was instrumental in India's development of the cryogenic engine, a technology that the country had previously denied itself.

Narayanan is a prominent scientist (APEX Scale) and the most senior director of ISRO. He leads the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, which develops liquid, semi-cryogenic, and cryogenic propulsion stages for launch vehicles, chemical and electric propulsion systems for satellites, launch vehicle control systems, and transducers for space system health monitoring.

He also serves as the Chairman of the Project Management Council-Space Transportation System (PMC-STS), which makes decisions on all launch vehicle projects and programmes, as well as the Chairman of the National Level Human Rated Certification Board (HRCB) for Gaganyaan, India's planned human spaceflight mission.


Narayanan, who attended Tamil-medium schools, earned an M-Tech in Cryogenic Engineering and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, where he received a Silver Medal for finishing first in the M-Tech program. The rocket and spacecraft propulsion expert joined ISRO in 1984 and advanced through the ranks to become director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in 2018.

S Somanath took over as ISRO chief in January 2022, and during his tenure, India became the first country in the world to land a rover on the Moon's south pole. It also joined the ranks of countries with a soft landing on the Moon, following the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China.


Also read: ISRO successfully launches SpaDeX mission for 'space docking', people spot rocket in the sky

To stay updated on the stories that are going viral follow Indiatimes Trending.