V Narayanan Named New ISRO Chief, Succeeds S Somanath

The central government has appointed V Narayanan as the new chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary of the Department of Space. He will succeed S Somanath, the current ISRO chief, on January 14.

In a notification on Tuesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet said Mr Narayanan, who is the head of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, will have a tenure of two years.  Mr Narayanan, who will also be the Chairman of the Space Commission, played a key role in India’s development of the cryogenic engine, a technology that was denied to the country.

Speaking to NDTV from Thiruvananthapuram, the newly appointed ISRO chief said, “We have a clear roadmap for India and I hope to take ISRO to greater heights as we have great talent.”

About V Narayanan

Mr Narayanan is a distinguished scientist (APEX Scale) and seniormost director in ISRO. The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, which he heads, is engaged in the development of liquid, semi-cryogenic and cryogenic propulsion stages for launch vehicles, chemical and electric propulsion systems for satellites, control systems for launch vehicles, and transducers development for space systems health monitoring. 

V Narayanan, who will take over as ISRO chief, also chairs the Project Management Council-Space Transportation System (PMC-STS), the decision-making authority for all launch vehicle projects and programs. Additionally, he heads the National Level Human Rated Certification Board (HRCB) for Gaganyaan, India’s ambitious human spaceflight mission.

Having studied in Tamil-medium schools, Mr. Narayanan went on to complete an M.Tech in Cryogenic Engineering and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, where he earned a Silver Medal for securing the top rank in his M.Tech program. A specialist in rocket and spacecraft propulsion, he joined ISRO in 1984 and rose through the ranks, becoming the director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in 2018.

S Somanath, the outgoing ISRO chief who assumed the role in January 2022, led the organization during a historic period. Under his leadership, India became the first nation to successfully land a rover near the Moon’s south pole and joined the elite group of countries—the US, the former Soviet Union, and China—to achieve a soft lunar landing.