New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday issued an order to appoint S Somanath as the Secretary of the Department of Space and the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Somanath is at present Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thiruvananthapuram.
His new appointment is for a combined tenure of three years from the date of joining of the post, inclusive of an extension in tenure beyond the age of superannuation in the public interest, a Personnel Ministry order said.
Somanath will succeed K Sivan, who completes his extended tenure on Friday, January 14.
Somanath completed a Degree in Mechanical engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, and a Master's in Aerospace engineering from IISC (Indian Institute Of Science) Bengaluru. He joined ISRO in 1985 and has contributed immensely to the design of the launch vehicles.
Somanath was instrumental in developing the GSLV Mk-III launcher and has made enormous contributions in developing PSLV in the early years of his career.
As PSLV project manager, Somanath handled areas of mechanisms, pyro systems, integration, and satellite launch service management.
In June 2015, Somnath was named director of ISRO'S Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
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