S. SOMANATH

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) • Chairman

Dr. S. Somanath is a Distinguished Scientist (Apex Grade) and Secretary, Department of Space (DoS), Chairman, Space Commission and Chairman, ISRO since 14 January 2022. Dr. S. Somanath having a career spanning nearly 39 years, is an expert in the field of space technology and systems engineering of launch vehicles and has made significant contributions in many areas.

As Secretary of DoS, he piloted the National Space Policy, facilitated Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) activation, engagement of ISRO with Non-Governmental Private Entities (NGPE) and start-ups in space sector and enabled NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL) to aggregate user demands, take up commercial activities including Launch vehicle production and spacecraft operations. Chandrayaan-3 landing near the south pole of Moon was a great success under his leadership. The Aditya-L1, XpoSat, INSAT-3DS, NVS-01, Oceansat, GSAT-24 and commercial PSLV & LVM3-OneWeb missions are some of the recent successes. Under his leadership Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Test Vehicle (TV) were developed and landing experiments of the Re-usable Launch Vehicle (RLV-LEX) was accomplished. He plays a crucial role in the architecture of Gaganyaan program for sending Indians to Space and achieved the first Test Vehicle flight for mission abort demonstration. Currently he is focussed on the Space Vision-2047 missions including Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-series and other exploration missions, Bharatiya Antariksha Station development and human mission to Moon.

As Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) during 2018-21, he was responsible for Launch vehicle technology development where, LVM3-M1/Chandrayaan-2 mission was a major accomplishment. He spearheaded the development of critical systems for the Gaganyaan programme, development of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, Re-usable Launch Vehicle & Air-Breathing technology programs. He was the Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) during 2015-18 where, the development and qualification of C25 stage was completed and successfully flown in LVM3-D1 flight. He was the Project Director when the Experimental flight of LVM3-X / CARE mission was successfully accomplished on 18th December, 2014.

Dr. S. Somanath took his B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, Masters in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and PhD from IITM Chennai.

He is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Fellow of Indian National Academy of Science (INSA), Fellow of Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), Astronautical Society of India (ASI) and a member of International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). He is the President (Elect) of AeSI and President of Society of Aerospace Quality and Reliability (SAQR). National Aeronautics Prize from AeSI, Space gold medal from ASI, gold medal from Aerospace Engineering Department, Platinum jubilee award and distinguished alumni award of IISc, Bangalore, distinguished fellow award from IIT Kanpur and Karnataka Rajyotsava award were some of the awards presented to him.

He has published papers in journals and conferences in the area of structural dynamics and control, materials modelling, dynamic analysis of separation mechanisms, vibration and acoustic testing, launch vehicle design and launch services management.

Events

International Astronautical Congress 2024

14-18 October 2024

Milan, Italy

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2023

2-6 October 2023

Baku, Azerbaijan

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2022

18-22 September 2022

Paris, France

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2021

25-29 October 2021

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2020

12-14 October 2020

Cyberspace edition

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2019

21-25 October 2019

Washington, United States

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2017

25-29 September 2017

Adelaide, Australia

Participation:

International Astronautical Congress 2016

26-30 September 2016

Guadalajara, Mexico

Participation:

Participation