V Narayanan appointed as new chairman of Isro, to take office on Jan 14

The Centre appointed V Narayanan as the new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and Secretary of the Department of Space on Tuesday.

V Narayanan will assume office on January 14. He will succeed the current Isro chairman, S Somanath.

According to an official order from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Narayanan has been appointed to serve in these roles for the next two years, until further notice.

Narayanan is currently serving as the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of the Isro in Valiamala, Kerala.

An official order from the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training states, "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri 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."

V Narayanan is a distinguished scientist with nearly four decades of experience in rocket and spacecraft propulsion.

He is a Rocket and Space Craft Propulsion Expert and joined Isro in 1984 and functioned in various capacities before becoming Director of LPSC. During the initial phase, he worked in the Solid Propulsion area of Sounding Rockets and Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

He further contributed to the process planning, process control and realization of Ablative nozzle systems, composite motor cases and composite Igniter cases.

Currently, Narayanan is the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), one of the major Centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) having its Headquarters at Valiamala in Thiruvananthapuram, with a unit at Bangalore.