All You need To Know About S Somanath, The Rocket Scientist Who Will Take Over As ISRO Chief

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is the pioneer space exploration agency of the Government of India, headquartered at Bengaluru. ISRO was formed in 1969 with a vision to develop and harness space technology in national development, while pursuing planetary exploration and space science research.

ISRO, by successfully demonstrating its unique and cost-effective technologies, has gained a place among the elite space agencies in the world over the years, under the guidance of Kailasavadivoo Sivan - an Indian space scientist who is the current Secretary and ex-officio chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Space Commission.

S Somanath, New Head Of Indian Space Agency | Twitter

Now Dr. S Somanath has been appointed as the tenth ISRO Chairman by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). S Somanath succeeded Dr. K. Sivan who took the charge in January 2018. As Kerala rocket scientist S Somanath is all set to head the national space agency of India, let's take a look at his inspiring journey.

Who is S Somanath, ISRO's new chief?

Rocket scientist S Somanath was born in July 1963. 58-year-old ISRO new chief hailing from Aroor a small town of Kerala and now its celebration time in Thuravoor, a panchayath in Alappuzha district of Kerala as a schoolboy from this village has gone on to become the head of Isro.

Somanath studied in the St Augustine¡¯s School in Aroor. After that, he did his pre-degree in Maharaja¡¯s College, Ernakulam. ISRO chief S Somanath's wife Valsala, who hails from Poochakkal in Alappuzha, is an office superintendent in Thiruvananthapuram Central Excise and Customs. His both children Malika and Madhav have completed their Post Graduation in Engineering.

How did a small village schoolboy become ISRO chief?

Rocket scientist S Somanath completed his Pre Degree from the Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and did mechanical engineering from the TKM College of Engineering, Kollam. Dr S Somanath as the college topper of the 1985 Mechanical Engineering branch in TKM Engineering College and in 1985 joined the VSSC centre here and has had no reason to look back after that.

Somanath, New Head Of Indian Space Agency | Twitter

After that S Somnath did his Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with specialisation in Dynamics and Control. At the ISRO, S Somanath has been associated with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Project during its initial phase. Later Somanath became the Associate Director (Projects) of the VSSC and also the Project Director of the GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle in 2010. Dr S Somanath was also the Deputy Director of Propulsion and Space Ordinance Entity till November 2014.

Congratulations to VSSC Director, S Somanath, on being appointed as Chairman, @isro and Secretary, Department of Space. Proud that Kerala has contributed one more illustrious citizen to lead India's space programme. Best wishes for a fruitful and innovative tenure. pic.twitter.com/3ohDwclB5Z

¡ª Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) January 12, 2022

In June 2015, Somanath took over as Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram, and served there until January 2018. Later Somanath took over as Director of VSSC from S Sivan who became Chairman of the ISRO and now he is all set to succeed him in the top post too.

ISRO new chairman S Somanath's area of expertise

Scientist S Somanath is an expert in launch vehicle structural systems, structural dynamics, mechanisms, pyro systems and launch vehicle integration. His pioneering contributions to mechanical integration designs resulted in making PSLV a highly sought-after launcher for microsatellites from across the world. He has also provided the technical leadership for designing the GSLV MkIII.

ISRO

As part of his role as the new ISRO Chairman, S Somanath will focus on technology, policy, implementation and areas where stakeholders need to be taken care of.

Awards and honours

His achievements include Space Gold Medal from the Astronautical Society of India (ASI) and ISRO has recognised his work with honours like Performance Excellence Award-2014 and Team Excellence Award-2014 for GSLV Mk-III.

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Previous Isro chiefs from Kerala

The previous ISRO chiefs from Kerala who held the top posts are MGK Menon (1972 to 1972), K. Kasturirangan (1994 to 2003), G. Madhavan Nair (2003 to 2009), and K. Radhakrishnan (2009 to 2014).

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