S Somnath-New Chairman of ISRO

January 13, 2022

Dr S Somnath is to become the new chairman of ISRO. He is to succeed K Sivan. He is the fourth Keralite to occupy the top most place in ISRO. The previous Keralites were K Radhakrishnan, Madhavan Nair and K Kasturirangan.

About Sivan and his extension

Somnath was nominated way back in 2019. He was nominated based on his seniority. However, the term of Sivan was extended for one year.

About Somnath

Somnath completed his college pre – degree in Maharaja College, Ernakulam. He studied his engineering in TKM College of Engineering. He joined the VSSC centre in 1985. HE completed his master’s in Indian Institute of Science in aerospace engineering.

Works in ISRO

He was associated with PSLV project in its early phases. Under his leadership, the experimental test flight of LVM3-X/CARE was completed.
In 2010, he became the Associate Director of ISRO.
He was the project director of GSLV Mk – III
In 2014, he acted as the Deputy Director of Propulsion and space Ordinance Entity
In 2015, he was made the director of Liquid propulsion system centre at Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram.
Currently he is the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

Somnath’s Appointment

He was appointed by the personnel ministry. He is to act as the director of ISRO for three years. Later his tenure will be extended based on public interest. Somnath has specialised in structural design, launch vehicle system engineering, structural dynamics, mechanism design, pyrotechnics.

About Chairman of ISRO

The chairman of ISRO is the secretary to the Government of India. He is an executive of Department of Space. The Department reports to the prime minister directly. Vikram Sarabhai is the longest serving chairman of ISRO. He served for 12 years. In 1962, he urged Nehru to establish INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee for Space Research) under Department of Atomic Energy. INCOSPAR became ISRO in 1969.

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