V Narayanan is ISRO's new chief: 5 facts about him
What's the story
The Indian government has appointed V Narayanan as the new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary of the Department of Space, effective January 14.
He will be succeeding S Somanath in the roles.
The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training issued the official order confirming the decision on Wednesday.
Narayanan is currently serving as the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Valiamala, Kerala.
Career trajectory
A look at Narayanan's journey with ISRO
A renowned rocket and spacecraft propulsion expert, Narayanan started his career with ISRO in 1984. He has worked in several capacities before taking over as the Director of LPSC.
His initial work involved the Solid Propulsion area for Sounding Rockets, Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLV), and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
Narayanan was instrumental in developing India's cryogenic engine, a technology that was denied to the country.
Technological advancements
Narayanan's contributions to cryogenic propulsion
In 1989, Narayanan finished his M.Tech in Cryogenic Engineering with First Rank from IIT Kharagpur and joined the Cryogenic Propulsion area in LPSC.
He also did PhD in Aerospace Engineering in 2001.
His contributions have made India one of the six countries in the world to have complex and high-performance cryogenic propulsion systems.
He has also been instrumental in finalizing ISRO's Propulsion Road map for 2017-2037.
Mission accomplishments
Narayanan's achievements as LPSC Director
As the Director of LPSC, Narayanan has delivered 164 liquid propulsion systems for 41 launch vehicles and 31 spacecraft missions in the last five years.
He now heads LPSC, an important ISRO center with its headquarters in Valiamala and a unit in Bengaluru.
He also headed the Failure Analysis Committee for Chandrayaan-2 and discovered a solution that led to the success of Chandrayaan-3.