ISRO appoints Scientist Dr. S Somanath as Chairman, Know the story
Read more to know about Dr. S Somanath who is appointed as new Chief of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has appointed eminent aerospace engineer and rocket scientist Dr. S Somanath as the new chairman of the organization. He will be replacing Kailasavadivoo Sivan who will complete his extended tenure on Friday.
On Wednesday, the Centre has decided to appoint Dr S. Somanath as the Secretary of the Department of Space and the Chairman of the Space Commission. The 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, a Personnel Ministry order said.
An expert in several disciplines
Dr. Somanath is holds expertise in several disciplines including launch vehicle design and has specialised in launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, integration designs and procedures, mechanism design, and pyrotechnics. Currently, he is serving as the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram. During the early stages of his career, he was a team leader for the Integration of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
The younger days of Dr. Somanath
Born in July 1963, Dr. Somanath graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Kerala University, with the second rank in the university. He completed his Post Graduation in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and also received Gold Medal for his meritorious performance. He is also the recipient of the Space Gold Medal from the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), Performance Excellence Award-2014 and Team Excellence Award-2014 for GSLV Mk-III realization, from ISRO.
Dr. Somanath's Thoughts
Sharing about his priorities, Dr. Somanath said, “We have to hold their hand and support them to come up. The idea is that the space ecosystem should become more vibrant, economically viable and self-sustaining. IN-SPACe is defining a new model, which is also designed to expand our space economy. The ₹16,000-crore space economy that we have in India today should grow to a ₹60,000-crore space economy,” quoted as saying by The Hindu.
