Rocket Scientist S Somanath Is New Chairman Of ISRO
New ISRO Chief: S Somnath replaces K Sivan as ISRO chief, whose tenure will end on January 14.
New Delhi: Rocket scientist S Somanath has been appointed as the new chief of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and secretary of Department of Space. Somnath replaces K Sivan in the post, whose tenure will end on January 14.
"His new appointment is for a combined tenure of three years from the date of joining of the post, inclusive of an extension in tenure beyond the age of superannuation in public interest," the government order said.
S Somanath appointed as the new Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Space Commission
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) January 12, 2022
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S Somnath has been serving as director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) since January 2018.
Somnath, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, joined ISRO in 1985 and has worked extensively on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLG) programmes.
In June 2015, Somnath was named director of Isro's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
Somanath did his B.Tech in mechanical engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, and a Masters in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
As PSLV project manager, Somanath handled areas of mechanisms, pyro systems, integration and satellite launch service management, according to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre website.
According to Isro records, he joined the GSLV MkIII Project during 2003 and was the deputy project director responsible for overall design of the vehicle, mission design, structural design and integration before becoming the project director of GSLV Mk-III from June 2010 to 2014. Under his leadership, the first experimental flight of the CARE mission was successfully accomplished on December 18, 2014.
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