S. Somanath

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In this Indian name, the name Sreedhara Panicker is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Somanath.

S. Somanath
Somanath in 2019
10th Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation
Assumed office
15 January 2022 (2022-01-15)
Preceded byK. Sivan
Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
In office
22 January 2018 – 14 January 2022
Preceded byK. Sivan
Succeeded byS. Unnikrishnan Nair[1]
Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre
In office
1 January 2015 – 23 January 2018
Preceded byK. Sivan
Succeeded byV. Narayanan
Personal details
BornJuly 1963 (age 60)
Thuravoor,_Cherthala, Kerala, India
SpouseValsalakumari
Children2
Alma materThangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering (B.Tech)
Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (M.E.)

Sreedhara Panicker Somanath (born July 1963) is an Indian aerospace engineer serving as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).[2] Under his chairmanship, ISRO carried out the third Indian lunar exploration mission named Chandrayaan-3. The lander named Vikram and the rover named Pragyan landed near the lunar south pole region on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST, making India the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and the fourth country to demonstrate soft landing on the Moon.[3][4][5][6]

Somanath served as the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.[7][8] Somanath is known for his contributions to launch vehicle design, particularly in the areas of launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, and pyrotechnics.[9][10]

Personal life and education

Somanath was born in a Malayali Hindu family[11] as the only child of V. Sreedhara Panicker, a Hindi teacher, and Thankamma in Thuravoor in Alappuzha district of Kerala.[12]

Somanath did his schooling at St. Augustine's High School, Aroor and completed his pre-university program from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam. He received his graduate degree in mechanical engineering from Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering, Kollam, Kerala University and a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with specialization in dynamics and control.

Somanath is married to Valsala, and has a daughter and a son.[13]

Career

After his graduation, Somanath joined Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1985. He was associated with Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle project during its initial phase. He became associate director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the project director of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III launch vehicle in 2010. He was also the deputy director of the Propulsion and Space Ordinance Entity till November 2014.[9]

In June 2015, he took over as director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram and served until January 2018. Somanath took over as director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre from K. Sivan who became chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. In January 2022, he took over as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, again succeeding K. Sivan.

In recognition of his contributions to the field of science, Somanath was awarded a Doctorate of Science (Honoris Causa) on 25 September by SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of the 18th Annual Convocation.[14][15] On 23 August 2023, he as ISRO chairman spearheaded the soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the lunar surface along with other notable senior ISRO scientists.

References

  1. ^ "Dr.S. Unnikrishnan Nair". Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Shri. S Somanath assumes charge as Secretary, Department of Space". ISRO. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Chandrayaan-3 launch on 14 July, lunar landing on 23 or 24 August". The Hindu. 6 July 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 11 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  4. ^ "India lands spacecraft near south pole of moon in historic first". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  5. ^ "What foreign media said on Chandrayaan-3's historic lunar feat". India Today. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  6. ^ "चंद्रयान-3: भारत ने रचा इतिहास, चंद्रमा के दक्षिणी ध्रुव पर की सफल लैंडिंग". Post Inshort (in Hindi). Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Somanath takes charge as VSSC director". www.indiatoday.in. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Somanath takes charge as VSSC director". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  9. ^ a b "New Directors for Three Major ISRO Centres: Three major ISRO Centres have new Directors from today". www.isro.gov.in. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  10. ^ Prasanna, Laxmi (22 January 2018). "S Somnath takes charge as Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre's director". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  11. ^ https://keralakaumudi.com/news/mobile/news.php?id=1138590
  12. ^ "New Isro chief S Somanath: All you need to know". The Times of India. 13 January 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  13. ^ https://www.madhyamam.com/amp/kerala/senior-rocket-scientist-somanath-is-new-isro-chairman-908815
  14. ^ "SRMIST hosts 18th convocation". 25 September 2022.
  15. ^ "SRM's Mega Convocation for 7380 Graduands".
Government offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation
2022-present 		Incumbent
Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
2018-2022 		Succeeded by


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