Dr. V. Narayanan, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), ISRO, Valiamala, during an interview with “The Hindu” in Thiruvananthapuram.
| Photo Credit: M. PERIASAMY
Dr. V. Narayanan has been appointed the new Space Secretary. Dr. Narayanan, who is currently the Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), will also be the new ISRO Chairman and he will take over from incumbent S. Somanath from January 14.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved appointment of 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 14.01.2025, or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” stated an order from Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Ministry of Personnel and Training.
Dr. Narayanan, who is a rocket and spacecraft propulsion expert, joined the ISRO in 1984 and functioned in various capacities before becoming director of the LPSC.
During the initial phase of his career he worked in the Solid Propulsion area of Sounding Rockets and Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). He has also contributed significantly for ISRO’s Geosynchronous launch vehicles namely GSLV Mk-II & GSLV Mk-III.
“As the Chairman of the National Expert Committee constituted to study the reasons for hardlanding of Chandrayaan-2 landership, contributed in pinpointing the reasons and corrective actions required to overcome the observations. Realised and delivered all the Propulsion Systems for Chandrayaan-3,” states Dr. Narayanan’s profile.
He takes over from Mr. Somanath who oversaw landmark launches like Chandrayaan-3, Aditya L1 and first developmental flight of the Gaganyaan mission.
Published – January 08, 2025 12:35 am IST
