Who is V Narayanan, rocket scientist who succeeds S Somanath as ISRO chief?

Rocket scientist V Narayanan has been appointed as the new head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday.

Here is all you need to know about the new head of ISRO:

• Narayanan took over from S Somanath, who became chairman in 2022 and has been credited with making the 54-year-old space agency more approachable and opening it up to engage with the next generation.

• Narayanan, who has worked on the key rocket launches such as ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and led the centre that designs and develops liquid propulsion systems for the agency, will take over on January 14 for a two-year term.

• With about four decades of experience, V Narayanan joined ISRO in the year 1984.

• Narayanan initially worked in the Solid Propulsion area for Sounding Rockets, Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLV), and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

• In 1989, he switched to Cryogenic Propulsion area at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).

• In 2018, Narayanan became the Director of LPSC. In five years, the centre developed 164 liquid propulsion systems for 41 launch vehicles. It also carried 31 spacecraft missions.

• Narayanan's expertise lies in rocket and spacecraft propulsion. He was the Project Director for the C25 Cryogenic Project of the GSLV Mk Ill vehicle.

• Under his leadership, the team successfully developed the C25 Stage, a vital component of GSLV Mk III.
  
  

  (With Reuters and PTI inputs)