Chairperson of ISRO

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Template:Infobox official post

The Chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation is the statutory head of ISRO. The officeholder is a secretary to the Government of India and an executive of the Department of Space (DoS) which directly reports to the Prime Minister of India.[1]

The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was founded in 1962 under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) with Vikram Sarabhai as its chairperson which in 1969 became ISRO.[2] In 1972, government of India had set up a space commission and DoS and brought ISRO under DoS.[3]

Since Sarabhai assumed the position, there have been eleven chairmen of the ISRO, with Satish Dhawan serving the longest term of 12 years as the chairman. Most of the chairmen have been South Indians.

Recently on 8 January 2025, The Central Government has appointed Dr. V. Narayanan, currently the director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram, as the new chairperson of ISRO, and also as the secretary of the DoS.[4]

List of chairpersons of ISRO

Template:Abbr Portrait Name
Template:Small 		Term Ref(s)
Start End Duration
1 File:Dr Vikram Sarabhai ISRO.webp Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts 8 years [5]
Founder of INCOSPAR and widely regarded as father of Indian space program. His efforts led to creation of Indian Space Research Organisation.
2 File:MGK Menon.webp Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts 9 months [6]
He was notable mostly for his work on cosmic rays and particle physics particularly on the high-energy inter-actions of elementary particles.
3 File:S Dhawan official Portrait ISRO.webp Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		1973 1984 12 years [7]
Satish Dhawan is known for his work on fluid dynamics and his tenure as longest serving chief of ISRO. His era was marked by India attaining orbital launch capability in 1980 for the first time and start of INSAT program which became base for further development of spacecraft technologies.
4 File:U R Rao ISRO.webp Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts 10 years [8][9]
Also served as chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology; Rao pushed for launch vehicle development which subsequently led to realisation of PSLV and later GSLV rockets, marked as key boosts to India's space capabilities. Launch capabilities with INSAT program eventually turned India into a major spacefaring nation.
5 File:K. Kasturirangan (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts 9 years [10]
His era marked development of improved spacecraft in INSAT series and development of IRS series of remote sensing satellites and major improvements in earth observation satellite technologies. His tenure also saw operationalisation of PSLVs and first flight of GSLV which made India self sufficient launching its smaller & medium EO satellites.
6 File:ജി-മാധവൻ-നായർ.jpg Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days [11]
Nair holds significant expertise on development of multi-stage launch vehicles and his era witnessed operationalisation of various variants of PSLV rocket. His tenure saw commencement of Indian Human Spaceflight Programme and launch of extraterrestrial exploration mission Chandrayaan-I. Following a controversial S-band spectrum deal involving Antrix Corporation, he had to step down.
7 File:K Radhakrishnan 2013 2.JPG Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days [12][13][14]
He joined VSSC as a development engineer for electro-mechanical devices of launch vehicles and later oversaw annual budget and plans and database for resources. Introduction of IRNSS made India one of few countries with own navigation systems while introduction of GSLV Mk III later enabled India to launch its heavier satellites also. His era also witnessed successful launch and orbital insertion of Mars Orbiter Mission, India's first Mars mission and cancellation of collaboration with Russia and redefining Chandrayaan-2 with Indian design and systems. Successful flight of India's own cryogenic stage on GSLV-D5 made it one of six countries with full launch capabilities.Template:Efn
- File:Shailesh Nayak (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days [15]
He was primarily engaged with studies related to oceanography and remote sensing and served as interim chief of ISRO for a brief period of 11 days.
8 File:A. S. Kiran Kumar (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days [16]
His tenure is attributed to HEX which marks beginning of development of reusable-launch vehicle, first orbital flight of GSLV Mk III, completion of NAVIC and launch of Astrosat, India's first space based observatory.
9 File:K. Sivan (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days [17]
He earlier served as director of VSSC and LPSC and participated in development of PSLV rockets. His tenure was marked by the Chandrayaan-2 project which resulted in a failed Moon landing. His tenure also saw the acceleration of India's crewed space program. Short-term goals include launch of Chandrayaan-3 to attempt a successful soft lunar landing, putting humans in space, launching missions to Venus and the Sun and development of SCE-200 rocket engine to facilitate realisation of India's heavy lift launch vehicle and increase commercial operations. He is also known for developing trajectory simulation software named SITARA which is still in use by ISRO.
10 File:S. Somanath, Director of VSSC, ISRO, speaks during the Heads of Agency Plenary of the 70th International Astronautical Congress (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname
Template:Small 		Template:Dts 13 January 2025 Template:Age in years and days [18]
Somanath is known for his contributions to launch vehicle design, particularly in the areas of launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, and pyrotechnics.[19][20] He also served as the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and [21] Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.[22] He was associated with the PSLV project and was the project director of GSLV Mk III in 2010. In his tenure in 2023, India successfully launched Chandrayan-3 and successfully made a soft landing in the South Pole making it the first country to make a successful soft landing in the South Pole.[19]
11 File:DrVNarayanan ISROHQ 15012025.png V. Narayanan
Template:Small 		Template:Dts Incumbent Template:Age in years and days
V. Narayanan is known for his contributions to launch vehicle engine, particularly in the areas of launch vehicle engine engineering.[23][24]

See also

Notes and references

References

  1. ↑ Space commission. Department of Space. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  2. ↑ Mangalorean.Com- Serving Mangaloreans Around The World!. mangalorean.com. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  3. ↑ Department of Space and ISRO HQ - ISRO. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
  4. ↑ V Narayanan to Lead ISRO: Succeeds S Somanath as New Chairman. Bru Times News.
  5. ↑ Welcome To ISRO :: Former Chairman :: Dr. Vikram Sarabhai - Introduction. isro.org. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  6. ↑ Welcome To ISRO :: Former Cha. isro.org. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  7. ↑ Welcome To ISRO:ŖṢ★: Former Chairmen:: Prof Satish DhawanSatish Dhawan. isro.org. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  8. ↑ Welcome To ISRO :: Former Chairman - Prof.Udupi Ramachandra Rao. isro.org. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  9. ↑ Welcome to ISRO :: Former Chairman :: Prof. Udupi Ramachandra Rao - Introduction. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  10. ↑ Welcome To ISRO :: Former Chairman :: Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan - Introduction. isro.org. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  11. ↑ Shri G Madhavan Nair. Indian Space Research Organisation(2008-11-11). Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  12. ↑ Dr. K. Radhakrishnan. Indian Space Research Organisation(2008-11-11). Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  13. ↑ India's space odyssey: ISRO creates history in 2014. The Indian Express(2014-12-27). Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  14. ↑ ISRO's Timeline from 1960s to Today - ISRO. Indian Space Research Organisation. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  15. ↑ Shailesh Nayak appointed as new ISRO chairman, Radhakrishnan retires
  16. ↑ A S Kiran Kumar takes over as Secretary, Department of Space, Chairman, Space Commission and Chairman, ISRO. www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  17. ↑ K. Sivan takes charge as new ISRO chairman. The Hindu(16 January 2018). Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  18. ↑ Malayali scientist Dr S Somanath appointed as ISRO chairman. Kerala Kaumudi(2022-01-12). Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 New Directors for Three Major ISRO Centres: Three major ISRO Centres have new Directors from today.. www.isro.gov.in(1 June 2015). Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  20. ↑ S Somnath takes charge as Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre's director, Prasanna, Laxmi. The Times of India(January 22, 2018). Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  21. ↑ Somanath takes charge as VSSC director. www.indiatoday.in(22 January 2018). Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  22. ↑ Somanath takes charge as VSSC director. Business Standard India(22 January 2018). Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  23. ↑ V Narayanan Appointed New ISRO Chairman. The Times of India(7 January 2025).
  24. ↑ V Narayanan: The Rocket Scientist who Will Lead ISRO into its Next Phase: 10 Facts. Livemint(8 January 2025).

Notes

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