Rocket scientist V Narayanan was on Tuesday appointed as the secretary of the Department of Space, PTI reported.
The space department secretary also holds the position of the chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation and the chief of the Space Commission.
Narayanan will succeed S Somanath, whose tenure will end next week. Somanath has held the position since January 14, 2022.
The two-year term of Narayanan will begin on January 14, according to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
Narayanan, with four decades of experience, has held several important positions at ISRO.
He joined the Indian space agency in 1984, initially working in the solid propulsion area at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. His work involved sounding rockets, the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
In 1989, he completed an MTech in Cryogenic Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He then moved to the cryogenic propulsion area at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, where is currently the director.
A specialist in rocket and spacecraft propulsion, he was the director for the C25 Cryogenic Project related to the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III.
During his tenure, the Indian space agency is expected to begin work on or complete several critical programmes including those part of the Gaganyaan mission, which is the country’s first human spaceflight, the Chandrayaan-4 moon mission, the development of its own space station, a second mission to Mars and the first Venus Orbiter Mission.
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