New ISRO chairman bats for opening up of India's space sector

Somnath said that it was a proud moment for him to be elevated as ISRO chairman

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director S Somanath, who has been appointed as the new chairman of ISRO, said that support needs to be extended to opening up the space sector of the country to private players.

Talking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, he said that it was a proud moment for him to be elevated as ISRO chairman at a time when the nation's space programmes require a new direction.

Somanath said that it was high time that the country's space sector was opened up to private players.

Read more: Eminent rocket scientist S Somanath appointed as ISRO chief

"Our space sector activities are now limited only to ISRO and some government agencies. Instead private players should be also allowed to play roles in developing applications and even launching rockets. Start-ups in the space sector also need to be promoted. The space sector need to be developed into a business economy by making it a space service sector. ISRO has its limitations and hence the role of private sector is important", he said.

Somanath, who is a Keralite, joined the VSSC in 1985. He was appointed as VSSC director in 2018.

Prior to that he also served as Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

After completing BTech in Mechanical Engineering from TKM College of Engineering in Kollam he did his Masters in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with specialisation in Structures, Dynamics and Control with a gold medal.

He played a key role in three successful missions of GSLV with indigenous cryogenic stages and eleven successful missions of PSLV with the liquid stages realized by LPSC.