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India: Dr. V. Narayanan has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Secretary of the Department of Space by the Indian government. He will follow S. Somanath and will serve for two years beginning January 14, 2025.
Narayanan brings almost forty years of rocket and spacecraft propulsion experience to his role as Director of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Valiamala, Kerala. He has contributed significantly to the development of important technologies, such as the GSLV Mk III’s CE20 Cryogenic Engine, which has been essential for missions like Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3.
About V. Narayanan
Born in Melakattu village near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari District, Narayanan joined ISRO in 1984. He holds an M.Tech in Cryogenic Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, where he graduated with top honors, and parallelly earned a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering in 2001.
The work completed as part of the M.Tech thesis “Cavitating Venturies for Flow Control in Cryogenic Rocket Engines” and the PhD thesis “Thrust and Mixture Ratio Regulation Systems for Cryogenic Rocket Engines” was directly used to the development of Indian Cryogenic Propulsion Systems.
Throughout his tenure at LPSC, he has overseen the development of numerous liquid propulsion systems and control power plants for various ISRO missions.
Under Somanath’s leadership since January 2022, ISRO achieved significant milestones, including the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which positioned India as the first country to soft-land a rover on the Moon’s south pole. Somanath’s tenure also emphasized making ISRO more approachable and engaging with the next generation.
As Dr.Narayanan takes on his new post, he is anticipated to lead ISRO through its next ambitious programs, including the Chandrayaan-4 and Gaganyaan missions. Furthermore, with the global commercial space sector predicted to have grown to worth $1 trillion by 2030, India plans to increase its stake to $40 billion by 2040 under his leadership.
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