Dr. S. Somnath new chairman of ISRO, was critical to PSLV’s success
Dr. S Somanath, ISRO’s new chairman, was instrumental in the success of the PSLV mission and hoped to do so again with the upcoming Gaganyaan mission. Here’s his uplifting story.
Dr. S Somanath, an eminent aerospace engineer and rocket scientist, has been appoint as the new ISRO or the secretary of the Department of Space for a three-year term. He takes over the position from Kailasavadivoo Sivan. The scientist’s 30-year career trajectory is full of notable achievements. And he is currently the director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC). He was instrumental in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle’s first successful flight (PSLV).
The much-anticipated launch in 1994 was postpone due to a problem with the rocket. Somanath, a young engineer at ISRO, then joined his seniors in resolving the issue. According to WION, the rocket went on to perform exceptionally well with his assistance in a matter of minutes.
Somanath, born and raised in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, discovered his interest in space while studying Mechanical Engineering at Kerala University.
His father, a Hindi teacher, was a constant encouragement for his son throughout the journey.
Somanath had requested explicitly as a college student. That his professor teach him a course on propulsion a specific subject in rocketry that is not taught as part of engineering. He graduated second in his class and enrolled in the Indian Institute of Science. Bengaluru, for a postgraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering. Soon after the course, ISRO hired the gold medalist for the PSLV program.
Somanath is an expert in various fields, including launch vehicle design. An NDTV report has specialized in launch vehicle systems engineering. Structural design, structural dynamics, integration designs and procedures, mechanism design, and pyrotechnics.
In 1985, he was named team leader for the PSLV rocket’s early integration at ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Kerala.
Somanath was also instrumental in three successful missions of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with indigenous cryogenic stages and eleven successful PSLV missions.
He has received the Astronautical Society of India’s (ASI) Space Gold Medal. The Team Excellence Award-2014 for realizing the GSLV Mk-III, and the ISRO Performance Excellence Award-2014.
“We work on rockets not only because they launch satellites… Rockets are the only way for humans to travel from the Earth’s surface to another planet… “There is simply no other way!” he once exclaimed to his juniors.
