V. Narayanan | Rocket scientist

The first big news from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the New Year seems to have an in-built element of surprise in it. On January 7, V. Narayanan, a rocket and spacecraft propulsion expert, who heads the ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, was named successor to S. Somanath, the current chairman of the space agency.

The face of ISRO since January 2022, Mr. Somanath is highly regarded, cutting a dynamic and impressive figure, especially with the younger ISRO hands. Insider-speak is that many within the organisation were expecting his term to be extended. Comparisons with his predecessor will be par for the course when Mr. Narayanan, who joined the ISRO 40 years ago, eases into the top spot on January 14.

The change of guard is happening at a critical moment for ISRO, now guided by the Space Vision 2047. On the one hand, a series of high-profile missions are in the works; the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Chandrayaan-4 lunar mission, the development of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station — India’s own space station — and landing an Indian on the moon by 2040, to name a few. On the other, the Indian space sector is in a state of flux, with the Space Policy, 2023 opening it up to private players.

Ever since the first U.S.-made Nike-Apache sounding rocket lifted off from Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, in November 1963, the Indian space programme has largely remained a jealously-guarded government concern.

To his credit, Mr. Narayanan is someone who knows the ins and outs of the ISRO, having joined the space agency’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram in 1984, where he worked on solid propulsion. He moved to the LPSC in 1989 to work on cryogenic propulsion and has remained there since, initially playing his part, and in subsequent years taking the lead role, in the propulsion aspects of ISRO missions.

As LPSC Director, Mr. Narayanan was currently leading the development of propulsion systems for the Gaganyaan programme when he was named the next Secretary, Department of Space, and Chairman, Space Commission, for a period of two years.

Success story

In many ways, his is the quintessential hard-won-success tale, the kind that parents in post-Independence India loved to inspire their children with.

Hailing from a humble background at Melakattuvilai, a village in Kanniyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, young Narayanan attended a nearby Tamil-medium school. Teachers announcing Neil Armstrong’s successful 1969 moon landing is part of his childhood memories. The eldest of six children, Mr. Narayanan had a penchant for hard work and emerged as the school topper in Class X. He subsequently obtained his M.Tech. in cryogenic engineering in 1989 with a first rank from the IIT, Kharagpur. He took his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering in 2001.

At the ISRO, he has contributed to major missions and projects, including the Chandrayaan series and the successful development of the cryogenic upper stage for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

The LPSC website describes him as “one of the few cryogenic members who have worked in this area from the beginning, carrying out fundamental research, theoretical and experimental studies and contributing to the successful development and testing of cryogenic sub systems”.

Appointed LPSC director in January 2018, Mr. Narayanan has been overseeing the development of propulsion systems for the Gaganyaan programme and the R&D into semi-cryogenic, liquid oxygen-methane and electric propulsion systems for future space exploration. Among other things, he played a critical role in finalising the 2017-2037 Propulsion Road Map of ISRO. One of the tried-and-tested hands of the space agency, Mr. Narayanan comes across as affable and polite. Within the ISRO community, he is viewed as hard-working and tenacious, as someone who gets things done. That his long career has largely been confined to LPSC is seen by some as a disadvantage, given the fast-evolving, multispeciality nature of present-day space-tech.

Many of the past chairpersons have headed multiple ISRO facilities such the LPSC and VSSC before moving on to the Bengaluru headquarters.

To his advantage, Mr. Narayanan has experience on his side. In the changing, competition-driven global space ecosystem, ISRO has the added responsibility of hand-holding Indian space-tech startups and driving industry participation. As its next Chairman, Mr. Narayanan faces the task of steering the space agency through challenging and happening times.