List of ISRO Chairman 2024: Name, Tenure and Other Important Facts

ISRO Chairman List: Last year was a memorable one for ISRO as the space organization launched many successful missions including the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon. Also, ISRO created history with its groundbreaking achievement of landing the Aditya L-1 mission on the sun.

These missions would not have been successful without the careful planning, dedication and hard work of the ISRO team. It also requires a good leader to guide and motivate the team to achieve the goals.

Therefore, the head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has a chairmanship, who plays a vital role in overseeing and directing the operations and missions of the organisation.

He or she is both a secretary to the Indian government and the director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (DOS), which comes directly under the authority of the Indian prime minister. Since 1963, 10 men have been appointed as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation.

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Here is the complete list of Indian Space Research Organisation Chairmen.

rank

Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization

Starting Semester

End of term

Length of term

1

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

1963

1971

8 years

2

Professor MGK Menon

January 1972

September 1972

9 months

3

Professor Satish Dhawan

1973

1984

12 years

4

Professor UR Rao

1984

1994

10 years

5

Dr. K. Kasturirangan

1994

August 27, 2003

9 years

6

G. Madhavan Nair

September 1, 2003

October 29, 2009

6 years 58 days

7

Dr. K. Radhakrishnan

October 30, 2009

December 31, 2014

5 years 62 days

Dr. Shailesh NayakActing Supervisor

January 1, 2015

January 12, 2015

11 days

8

Kiran Kumar

January 14, 2015

January 14, 2018

3 years

9

Dr. K. Sivan

January 15, 2018

January 15, 2022

4 years

10

Somanath

January 15, 2022

Current

2 years 217 days

ISRO Chairmanship: Highlights

  • The current chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization is Somanath, who is also one of the planners of India’s lunar program and is in charge of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
  • Dr. Shailesh Nayak, who previously worked in oceanography and remote sensing, was the interim head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for 11 days.
  • Under the leadership of S. Somanath, ISRO launched Chandrayaan-3, which would become India’s first spacecraft to land on the Moon and the world’s first spacecraft to land on the South Pole of the lunar surface.
  • ISRO Chairmanship List: Key Facts

    1. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai (1963-1972) is considered the father of the Indian space program. Vikram Sarabhai established the following institutions: I. Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad. II. Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. III. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Trivandrum. IV. Faster Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam

    2. Prof. MGK Menon (Jan-Sep 1972) I. He is known for his work in cosmic ray and particle physics, especially in high energy interactions of elementary particles.

    3. Prof. Satish Dhawan (1972-1984) I. He succeeded Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of the Indian space program, as Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in 1972. II. His efforts led to the operation of Indian operational spacecraft such as INSAT and PSLV.

    4. Prof. Udupi Ramachandra Rao (1984-1994)I. Dr. Rao took the responsibility for the creation of Indian satellite technology in 1972. II. He designed the first Indian satellite “Aryabhata” in 1975.

    5. Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangam (1994-2003) I. During his tenure as Chairman of ISRO, the space programme witnessed several major milestones under his leadership in the form of PSLV and GSLV.II. He was also the Project Director of India’s first two experimental earth observation satellites, BHASKARA-I and II.

    6. Shri G. Madhavan Nair (2003-2009)I. Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first lunar probe. It was launched under the chairmanship of Shri G. Madhavan Nair.II. During his six years as Chairman and Secretary of ISRO, ISRO successfully completed 25 missions.

    7. Dr. K. Radhakrishnan (2009-2014) India’s first interplanetary mission “Mangalyaan” was launched under the chairmanship of Mr. K. Radhakrishnan.

    8. Shri AS Kiran Kumar (2015 to 2018)I. He did an admirable job in the launch of Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Mission of India.II. Indian National Regional Navigation System (IRNSS) and GAGAN were developed under his supervision.

    9. Dr. K. Sivan (2018-2022) I. He has made significant contributions to end-to-end mission planning, design, integration and analysis. II. His tenure was instrumental in the launch of Chandrayaan-2 and the acceleration of India’s human space programme.

    III. Unfortunately, the much-anticipated Chandrayaan-2 lost communications and eventually crashed just hours before its lunar landing.

    10. S Somanath (appointed in January 2022)

    On January 12, 2022, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed I. S Somanath as the tenth head of the Indian Space Research Organization.

    2. Under his leadership, the Indian Space Research Organization launched Chandrayaan-3, which landed on the moon on August 23, 2023. Now, India is the fourth country in the world to land on the surface of the moon.

    In conclusion, it can be said that ISRO has done a very commendable work in the field of space and astronomy. The contribution of all the ISRO chairmen is very appreciable, especially Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.

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