V Narayanan was appointed as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday. He will succeed S Somnath to the assume the post on January 14, 2025.
Besides taking over as the ISRO chief, Narayanan will also take charge as the secretary of the department of space. He will serve in the new roles for the next two years.
Who is V Narayanan?
V Narayanan has been serving as the director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram. Joining ISRO in 1984, he has 40 years of experience in rocket and spacecraft propulsion.
Narayanan has formerly worked in the solid propulsion area of Sounding Rockets. He also served in Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, he completed his MTech in Cryogenic Engineering and got his PhD in Aerospace Engineering.
How much will V Narayanan earn as ISRO Chairman?
Though ISRO has not made an official announcement regarding the salary of the space agency's chief, reports have revealed that S Somnath's salary was Rs 2.5 lakh. Going by this, V Narayanan is likely to get a salary similar to his predecessor.