S. Somanath
Indian aerospace engineer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr. Sreedhara Panicker Somanath (born July 1963) is an Indian aerospace engineer who served as a Distinguished Scientist (Apex Grade) and Secretary, the Department of Space (DoS), Chairman, Space Commission and 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] . Dr. S. Somanath is currently the Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor at ISRO. [7] He also serves as an Advisor (Space Technology) to the Government of Andhra Pradesh[8][9]
Dr. S. Somanath | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Somanath in 2019 | |
| 10th Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation | |
| In office 15 January 2022 – 14 January 2025 | |
| Preceded by | K. Sivan |
| Succeeded by | V. Narayanan |
| Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre | |
| In office 24 January 2018 – 14 January 2022 | |
| Preceded by | K. Sivan |
| Succeeded by | S. Unnikrishnan Nair[1] |
| Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre | |
| In office 1 January 2015 – 23 January 2018 | |
| Preceded by | K. Sivan |
| Succeeded by | V. Narayanan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 1963 (age 61) Thuravoor, Cherthala, Kerala, India |
| Spouse | Valsalakumari |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering (B.Tech., Mechanical Engineering) Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (M.Tech. in Aerospace Engineering) Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (PhD) |
He is popularly known as the People’s Scientist for his humble demeanor and efforts to connect with citizens, especially the youth.[10]
He served as the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.[11][12]
Dr. S. Somanath has a career spanning nearly 40 years and is an expert in the field of space technology and systems engineering of launch vehicles. He is known for his contributions to launch vehicle design, particularly in the areas of launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, and pyrotechnics.[13][14]
Early life and education
Somanath was born in a Malayali Nair family[15] as a child of V. Sreedhara Panicker, a Hindi teacher, and Thankamma at Thuravoor in Alappuzha district of Kerala.[16]
Somanath studied at St. Augustine's High School, Aroor, and completed the Pre-Degree course from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam. He then received his graduate degree in mechanical engineering from Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering, Kollam, and a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, with a specialization in dynamics and control. He was awarded a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras)[17] and was awarded his doctorate during the institute's 61st convocation on 19 July 2024.[18][19]
Somanath is married to Valsala, with whom he has a daughter and a son.[20]
Career
Summarize
Perspective
After his graduation, Somanath joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1985. He was associated with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle project during its initial phase. He became associate director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the project director of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III launch vehicle in 2010. He was also the deputy director of the Propulsion and Space Ordnance Entity till November 2014.[13]
In June 2015, he took over as director of the 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 ISRO, again succeeding K. Sivan.
As the chairman of the ISRO, he had piloted the National Space Policy[21][22], engagement of ISRO with private space initiatives and start-ups in space sector[23][24] and enabled aggregation of user demands, take up commercial activities including Launch vehicle production and spacecraft operations by NSIL[25][26]. 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[27].
Other notable accomplishments under his leadership include Aditya-L1[28], XpoSat[29], INSAT- 3DS[30], NVS-01[31], Oceansat[32], GSAT-24[33], SpaDeX[34] and commercial PSLV & LVM3- OneWeb missions[35]. Under his leadership Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Test Vehicle (TV) were developed and landing experiments of the Re-usable Launch Vehicle (RLV-LEX) was accomplished[36][37]. He played a crucial role in the architecture of Gaganyaan[38] and accomplished the first Test Vehicle flight for mission abort demonstration[39].
In recognition of his contributions to the development of space science in India, headlines were univocal in declaring that Dr. S. Somanath—one of the most popular ISRO chairmen—left behind a legacy marked by unparalleled achievements.[40][41]
He was succeeded by V. Narayanan.[42]
Honorary Doctorates
- Satyabhama University, 2018[43]
- Centurion University, 2020[44]
- Karunya Institute of Technology and Science, 2022[45]
- SRM University, 2022[46][47]
- Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, 2022
- ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, 2023
- Uttarakhand Technical University, 2023[48]
- Bangalore University, 2023[49][50][51]
- Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, 2024[52]
- Sarada Birla University, 2024[53]
- Amity University, 2024[54]
- DY Patil University, 2024
- Kerala University of Health Sciences, 2024[55]
- Visveswaraya Technological University, 2024[56]
- UAS University, 2024
- Kurukshethra University, 2025[57]
- NIT, Raipur 2025
International Honors
- Full member of International Academy of Astronautics (IAA)[58]
- Member of the Space Transportation Committee of International Astronautical Federation (IAF)[59]
- Member of International Project and Program Management Committee of IAF[59]
- Elected Vice President of IAF (2019-2021) and was Advisor to President, IAF[60]
Awards
- Sabitha Choudhuri Gold Medal from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (1994)
- Space Gold Medal by Astronautical Society of India (2003)[61]
- ISRO Merit Award for Individual Achievement (2009)[61]
- ISRO Team Award for the GSLV Mk-III Development (2011)[61]
- ISRO Performance Excellence Award (2013)[61]
- ISRO Team Excellence Award for LVM3-X/CARE mission (2014)[62]
- Platinum Jubilee award from Department of Aerospace Engineering, IISc, Bangalore (2017)
- Lifetime achievement award from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam (2017)[63]
- APJ Abdul Kalam award by Nurul Islam University (2018)
- National Aeronautics Prize, Aeronautical society of India (2018)
- ISRO Outstanding Achievement Award (2019)[61]
- AIMA Managing India Awards (2022)[64]
- Bhaskara Award by Indian Society of Remote Sensing (2022)[65]
- Chattambi Swami Jayanthi Award at Trivandrum (2023)
- Life Fellow Award by IIT Kharagpur (2023)[66]
- Kerala Management Association Leadership Award (2023)[67]
- Distinguished Alumni award from IISc Bangalore (2023)[68][69]
- Karnataka Rajyotsava Award (2023)[70][71]
- World Space Award (2023)[72][73]
- International Astronautical Federation Hall of Fame (2024)[74]
- Karikkakathamma Award (2024)[75]
- Attukaal Amma Award (2024)
- Distinguished Alumni award form IIT Madras (2025)[76]
- Kerala Sasthra Puraskaaram (2025)[77]
- EY Special Jury Award (2025)[78]
- Malliyoor Puraskaram (2025)[79]
References
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