V. Narayanan A rocket scientist

The first big news from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in the new year seems to have an element of surprise built into it. On January 7, V. Narayanan, a rocket and spacecraft expert, who heads ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Center (LPSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, has been appointed in place of S. Somanath, the current chairman of the space agency.

The face of ISRO from January 2022, Mr. Somanath is highly regarded, cutting a dynamic and impressive figure, especially with ISRO’s small hands. Another thing that is being talked about is that many in the organization were expecting his term to be extended. The comparison with his predecessor will be par for the course where Mr. Narayanan, who joined ISRO 40 years ago, took over the top post on January 14.

The changing of the guard comes at a critical time for ISRO, now guided by Space Vision 2047. On the other hand, a series of high-end missions are in the works; the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Chandrayaan-4 lunar mission, the development of the Bharatiya Antariksha Station – India’s own space station – and putting India on the moon by 2040, to name a few. On the other hand, the Indian space sector is in a state of flux, with the Space Policy, 2023 opening up for private players.

Ever since the first sounding US-made Nike-Apache rocket took off from Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, in November 1963, India’s space program has remained a jealously guarded government concern.

His compliments, Mr. Narayanan, who knows the ins and outs of ISRO, joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram in 1984, where he worked intensively. He moved to LPSC in 1989 to work on cryogenic propulsion and has remained there ever since, initially playing a role, and in later years taking a leading role, in the propulsion aspects of ISRO’s missions.

As Director of LPSC, Mr. Narayanan was currently leading the development of Gaganyaan program development plans when he was appointed as the next Secretary, Ministry of Space, and Chairman, Space Commission, for a period of two years.

A success story

In many ways, his is the quintessential hard-win-success tale, the kind that post-independence Indian parents loved to inspire their children.

Hailing from a humble background in Melakattuvilai, a village in Kanniyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, young Narayanan attended a nearby Tamil school. Teachers announcing Neil Armstrong’s 1969 moon landing achievement are part of his childhood memories. The eldest of six children, Mr. Narayanan was a hard worker and topped school in Class X. After that he got his M.Tech. in cryogenic engineering in 1989 with first degree from IIT, Kharagpur. He took his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering in 2001.

At ISRO, he contributed to major missions and projects, including the Chandrayaan series and the successful development of the cryogenic upper stage of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

The LPSC website describes him as “one of the few cryogenic members who have worked in this area since the beginning, conducting basic research, theoretical and experimental studies and contributing to the successful development and testing of small cryogenic systems”.

Appointed as director of LPSC in January 2018, Mr. Narayanan oversaw the development of the Gaganyaan system development and R&D into semi-cryogenic, liquid oxygen-methane and propulsion systems for future space exploration. Among other things, he played a key role in finalizing ISRO’s 2017-2037 Propulsion Road Map. One of the tried and tested hands of the space agency, Mr. Narayanan appears to be kind and dignified. In the ISRO community, he is considered a hard worker and a tough guy, a go-getter. That his long career has been confined to LPSC seems to some a bad thing, given the rapidly evolving, multi-disciplinary nature of today’s space technology.

Many past chairmen have headed many ISRO institutes like LPSC and VSSC before moving to the Bengaluru headquarters.

For his benefit, Mr. Narayanan has experience on his side. In a changing global environment, driven by competition, ISRO has the added responsibility of hand-holding Indian space-tech and pilot industry participation. As the next Chairman, Mr. Narayanan is tasked with guiding the space agency through challenging and eventful times.