Dr. V. Narayanan Appointed Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO

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Source: ISRO

Prior to this, he served as Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.

January 2025 : Dr. V. Narayanan, a distinguished scientist and expert in rocket and spacecraft propulsion, assumed the role of Secretary, Department of Space, and Chairman, ISRO, on January 13, 2025. Prior to this, he served as Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), one of the major Centres of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), with its headquarters at Valiamala in Thiruvananthapuram and a unit at Bangalore.

With a career spanning 40 years at ISRO, Dr. Narayanan’s key contributions include:

• Spearheaded the indigenous development of cryogenic propulsion systems for GSLV Mk-II, making India self-reliant in this critical technology.
• Led the propulsion systems for Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3, contributing to India's historic soft landing near the Moon's south pole.
• Directed the development of propulsion systems for India's first solar mission, establishing India among the few nations with advanced solar study capabilities.
• Pioneered human-rating of LVM3 and development of critical systems like life-support and crew module propulsion.
• Led the operationalization of LVM3 and initiated development of next-generation propulsion systems, including semi-cryogenic and LOX-methane engines.