V Narayanan. Dr. V. Narayanan (born 14 May 1964) is an Indian aerospace engineer, cryogenic engineer and rocket scientist currently serving as the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Secretary of the Department of Space since 14 January 2025. He served as the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) from 23 January 2018 to 14 January 2025, the day when he assumed the chairmanship of ISRO. He is set to lead the organization during the ongoing development of various upcoming programmes, including the Gaganyaan and Chandrayaan-4 missions, as well as the launch of India's first space station in the forthcoming years.

Early life and education 
Narayanan was born in the Melakattuvilai village near Nagercoil in Kanyakumari District in the state of Tamil Nadu, on 14 May 1964, to C. Vanniya Perumal, a coconut trader and S. Thangammal. He was the eldest child of six siblings. Narayanan would frequently help out at his father's coconut shop in the Vadasery market in Nagercoil. He studied till 5th grade at the government primary school in , from 1969 to 1974. Narayanan then studied at the LMS Higher Secondary School in Zionpuram till 10th grade, from 1974 to 1979. His house did not have electricity till he was in 9th grade.

Narayanan did his schooling from government primary and high school in Tamil medium. His house was electrified only when he was in class-IX. Until then, he and his siblings studied using kerosene lamps. The primary school where he studied didn't even have a proper roof. So, students there always welcomed rain, as the rainy days meant holidays.

Dr. Narayanan completed both his schooling and DME (Diploma in Mechanical Engineering) with First Rank. He completed his DME at the Government Polytechnic College, Nagercoil in 1982. 

In 1982, after his graduation, he and his brother both earned admission for the Bachelor of Engineering course. Because his family could afford to pay for only one brother's education, Narayanan chose not to pursue the course at Anna University, his dream college. After his DME, he worked at multiple companies like TI Cycles, BHEL and MRF for one and a half years. He later did his AMIE course in Mechanical Engineering. He earned his MTech degree in Cryogenic Engineering with First Rank from the IIT Kharagpur in 1989 and later completed his Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering also from 
IIT Kharagpur in 2001.

Career 
Narayanan joined ISRO in 1984, initially working in the Solid Propulsion area for Rohini Sounding Rockets, Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicles (ASLV), and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram. He contributed to the process planning, control, and realization of ablative nozzle systems, composite motor cases, and composite igniter cases.

At LPSC 
In 1989, after completing his MTech, he transitioned to the Cryogenic Propulsion area at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC). According to Vasudevan Gnana Gandhi, director of ISRO's propulsion unit at the time, Narayanan had initially joined ISRO's fiberglass unit, and was referred to the propulsion unit by VSSC director S. Ramakrishna. Narayanan was one among the approximately 20 engineers sent by ISRO to Russia in order to train on Russian cryogenic engines and incorporate them in Indian launch vehicles. Narayanan played a crucial role in the development of India's cryogenic propulsion systems, contributing to the successful development and testing of sub-systems such as gas generators, sub-scale cryogenic engines, and thrust chambers. His efforts were instrumental in making India one of the six countries with indigenous cryogenic propulsion technology.

As the Project Director of the C25 Cryogenic Project, Narayanan provided techno-managerial leadership in designing and developing the C25 Cryogenic Propulsion System for the GSLV Mk-III Launch Vehicle. Under his guidance, the system was developed in a short time frame and successfully inducted into the GSLV Mk-III vehicle. He also had an important role in the successful maiden launch of the GSLV Mk-III. Narayanan's team built and dispatched the L110 Vikas engine for the Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3 missions, which were used by both spacecrafts in their landing attempts on the moon.

Narayanan's team also built the 2nd stage, 4th stage and control power plants of the PSLV-C57 launch vehicle used in the Aditya-L1 solar observation mission, and built its propulsion systems. For the Gaganyaan mission, his team is working on the crewed flight capable versions of the GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle and the L110 and C32 engines. Narayan was the chairman of the Mission Readiness Review of the Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TVD-1) test. Narayanan set ISRO's Propulsion Road Map for 2017 to 2037, and LPSC, during his directorship, began building the reusable Next Generation Launch Vehicle.

In January 2018, he became the Director of the LPSC, overseeing the development of liquid, semi-cryogenic, and cryogenic propulsion stages for launch vehicles, as well as chemical and electric propulsion systems for satellites. During his tenure, the LPSC delivered 183 liquid propulsion systems for 41 launch vehicles and 31 spacecraft missions over seven years. Narayanan is the third consecutive LPSC director to become the ISRO chairman after Somanath and K. Sivan.

Chairman of ISRO 
Speaking to The Hindu on his appointment, he said the number of satellites India has in orbit has to be increased from 54 to 100 within three to four years, given the country's needs. He also said he intends to take India's share in the global space sector from 2% to 10%. During his tenure, some missions ISRO has lined up are the IRNSS-1K launch, the SpaDeX space docking and the Gaganyaan-1 (G1) uncrewed test flight; the agency also intends to commence the groundwork for the Bharatiya Antariksha Station, Mangalyaan 2 and its first Venus Orbiter Mission. Experts who spoke to The Indian Express have said the reason Narayanan was appointed as ISRO chairman, instead of VSSC chairman S. Unnikrishnan Nair, was Narayanan's identification of errors made during Chandrayaan-2's landing attempt and fixing these in Chandrayaan-3's lander, which led to a successful landing.

The two satellites of the SpaDex mission docked successfully on 16 January 2025; making India the fourth nation to execute a space docking after the USA, Russia and China.

Awards and accolades 
Narayanan has received several accolades, including the Silver Medal from IIT Kharagpur for First Rank in MTech, the Gold Medal from the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), and the ASI Award for Rocket and Related Technologies. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Engineers (India), the Indian Cryogenic Council, and the Aeronautical Society of India.

Personal life 
Narayanan is married to Dr Kavitharaj NK, daughter of a professor, whom he considers as a "constructive critic and a guide". Their daughter is B Tech and PGDM graduate and works in a multinational company and their son is pursuing B Tech in computer engineering.

Selected works

References

Bibliography

External links 

 Dr. Narayanan's publications at Google Scholar

Living people
Indian Space Research Organisation people
Indian aerospace engineers
IIT Kharagpur alumni
People from Kanyakumari district