Somnath is the new ISRO chief

Eminent rocket scientist S Somanath has been appointed as the chairman of the ISRO as well as the Space secreary. Somanath, who has been the Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, will replace K Sivan as the head of India's space agency. Sivan was given a year's extension and his term is set to end very soon. Somanath becomes the fourth Malayali to hold the post after K Kasturirangan, G Madhavan Nair, and K Radhakrishnan. His new appointment is for a combined tenure of three years from the date of joining of the post, inclusive of an extension in tenure beyond the age of superannuation in public interest, a DoPT order said.

Somnath, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, joined ISRO in 1985 and has worked extensively on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLG) programmes. In June 2015, Somnath was named director of Isro's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram.