 "Who is Dr V Narayanan, the new Isro chief to succeed S Somanath?")
The Centre appointed Dr V Narayanan as the new chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and Secretary of the Department of Space on Tuesday.
He will take over from S Somanath, the organisation's current head on January 14.
In a notification on Tuesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet said Narayanan will have a tenure of two years.
An official order from the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training states, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri V. Narayanan, Director. Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Valiamala as Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Space Commission for a period of two years with effect from January 14, 2025, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”
Here’s all we know about him.
Who is V Narayanan?
Dr V Narayanan is a distinguished scientist with nearly four decades of experience in rocket and spacecraft propulsion.
He joined Isro in 1984 and functioned in various capacities.
During the initial phase, he worked in the Solid Propulsion area of Sounding Rockets and Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
He was appointed Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in 2018, one of the major centres of the Isro, having its headquarters at Valiamala in Thiruvananthapuram, with a unit in Bangalore.
The centre is engaged in developing liquid, semi-cryogenic propulsion stages for launch vehicles, chemical and electric propulsion systems for satellites, control systems for launch vehicles, and transducer development for space systems health monitoring.
He also chairs the Programme Management Council — Space Transportation Systems (PMC-STS), which makes decisions in all launch vehicle projects and programmes.
Dr Narayanan heads the National Level Human Rated Certification Board (HRCB) for Gaganyaan, India’s planned human spaceflight mission .
His contributions
Dr Narayanan has contributed to the process planning, process control, and realisation of Ablative nozzle systems, composite motor cases, and composite Igniter cases.
Under his guidance, the LPSC delivered 183 Liquid Propulsion Systems and Control Power plants for various Isro missions.
One of Dr Narayanan’s notable achievements was his role as Project Director for the GSLV Mk III’s C25 Cryogenic Project.
Thanks to his leadership, the C25 Stage — a vital part of the GSLV Mk III vehicle — was successfully developed.
Academic excellence
Dr Narayanan, who attended Tamil-medium schools, completed his MTech in Cryogenic Engineering and PhD in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. He also received a silver medal for achieving the first rank in the MTech degree.
He received an honorary Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degree from Chennai’s Sathyabama University.
Numerous distinguished awards have been bestowed onto the newly appointed Isro chief, according to the official LPSC website.
Dr Narayanan received the ASI Award for Rocket and Related Technologies and a Gold Medal from the Astronautical Society of India (ASI).
He has won several Isro awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award, Performance Excellence Award, and Team Excellence Award, in addition to the High Energy Materials Society of India’s Team Award.
Achievements under S Somanath’s leadership
S Somanath took over as the Isro chief in January 2022.
He oversaw the third Indian lunar exploration project, Chandrayaan-3 , which made India the first nation in history to land a rover on the Moon’s south pole.
It also became one of the few nations to achieve a soft landing on the moon, following China, the US, and the former Soviet Union.
Under his leadership, the space agency also successfully launched the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan).
Isro’s new SpaDex mission
India's space agency recently made headlines when it launched SpaDex, a domestically built space docking technology that is essential for large-scale projects like Gagayaan and Chandrayaan 4.
The SpaDex mission involves the deployment of two small satellites, SDX01 (Chaser) and SDX02 (Target), into a low-Earth circular orbit at an altitude of 470 km. The primary goal is to test and demonstrate the technology for rendezvous, docking, and undocking of these spacecraft. Unlike larger docking missions, SpaDeX presents a unique challenge due to the precision required for these manoeuvres, given the smaller size and mass of the satellites.
By mastering this technology, India seeks to join the exclusive club of countries—currently limited to the United States, Russia, and China—that possess space docking expertise.
The space agency is set to dock in orbit on January 9.
With inputs from agencies
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