Program Leads

Shri Somanath S is a Distinguished Scientist and Secretary, Department of Space, Chairman, Space Commission and Chairman, ISRO since 14 January 2022. Shri. Somanath, spanning a distinguished career of nearly 36 years, has made significant contribution in the area of space technology. Shri Somanath is an expert in the area of system engineering of launch vehicles.

In his previous assignment as Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in 2018, the lead Centre of ISRO, he was responsible for Launch vehicle technology development. Under his leadership, VSSC has achieved significant feats like Crew Escape System demonstration through Pad Abort Test (PAT), launch of GSLV Mk-III M1/Chandrayaan 2, and he is spearheading the upcoming Gaganyaan mission and the development of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).

Prior to that he had been the Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) where he led the team to complete the development and qualification of CE20 cryogenic engine and the C25 stage which was successfully flown in GSLV Mk-III D1 flight. In his capacity as the Associate Director (Projects) of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Project Director of GSLV Mk-III Launch vehicle, the first Experimental flight of LVM3-X/CARE mission was successfully accomplished on 18 December, 2014.

He is a Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Fellow of Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), Astronautical Society of India (ASI) and a member of International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

He has published several papers in journals & given seminars in the area of structural dynamics and control, dynamic analysis of separation mechanisms, vibration & acoustic testing, launch vehicle design and launch services management.

Dr. BN Suresh  is presently, Chancellor, Indian Institute of Space science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram and Honorary  Distinguished Professor at ISRO HQ, Bangalore. He was President for Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Delhi, a premier Engineering Academy of the Country for 4 years. He  has contributed significantly in the area of aerospace  for the design and  development of  different   Launch Vehicles of India.    He   was Director,  Vikram Sarabhai Space  Centre    for  four and half years since 2003. Took over  as  Founder Director  for  the newly established Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Trivandrum in 2007 .   He  has won more than 25 awards & honours and prominent among them are   “Global Pioneer Award”  by International Council of System Engineering  at Washington, DC,  USA , “2020 IEEE Simon Ramo Medal” for the exceptional achievement in systems engineering and systems science  by IEEE. In recognition of his meritorious contributions for Science and Technology, Govt. of India conferred on him “Padmasree” during the year 2002 and the  third highest civilian Award “Padma Bhushan” during the year 2013.

He has served as Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, during 2015-2018. Shri Kiran Kumar, born on October 22, 1952 in Hassan, Karnataka, holds M.Sc. Degree in Physics (Electronics) from Bangalore University and M.Tech. Degree in Physical Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

He has steered the implementation of the applications oriented Indian Space Programme, which has facilitated rapid development of the country in many important spheres of earth observation, communication, navigation, meteorology and space science, as well as the development of indigenous launch vehicles and related technologies for providing assured access to space. He has led design and development of more than 50 Electro-Optical Imaging Sensors flown on various Space borne platforms starting from Bhaskara in 1979. Further, his role in the success of Chandrayaan-1 mission and Mars Orbiter Mission has been significant.

Shri Kiran Kumar has been the Chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) in 2012. He has made valuable contributions to Coordination Group of Meteorological Satellites (CGMS), Expert Team on Satellite Systems – World Meteorological Organisation (ETSAT of WMO) and Indo-US Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation.

Shri Kiran Kumar is Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences India, Indian Society of Remote Sensing, Institution of Electronics & Telecommunications Engineers, Indian Society of Systems for Science & Engineering, Indian Meteorological Society, Indian Society of Geomatics, Gujarat Science Academy, Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences and an elected member of International Academy of Astronautics. He has been conferred with Honoris Causa and DSc by 18 Indian academic institutions. He has co-authored 85 publications in various national/international scientific journals/conferences/symposiums. He was conferred Padma Shri by the President of India in 2014. Other notable honours conferred on him include, Rajyostava Award by for 2015, `Sir M. Visvesvaraya Senior Scientist State Award’ for 2013 by Government of Karnataka, Lifetime Achievement Award from Karnataka Science and Technology Academy in 2016, IISc Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2015, Gujarat Ratna `Life for Innovation’ Award conferred by Gujarat Innovation Society in 2014, Lifetime Achievement Award by Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences in 2016, Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya Centenary Award by University of Mysore in 2016, G.M. Modi Science Award in 2016, H K Firodia Vijnan Ratna Award in 2017, Santokbaa Award instituted by SRKKF Surat in 2018 and ISRO Lifetime Achievement Award 2018. He has been conferred with the prestigious 2018 International von Karman Wings Award instituted by the Aerospace Historical Society, together with the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at the California Institute of Technology, in 2018 and the Chevalier de l'Ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur – the highest civilian honour by the Government of France in 2019.

Shri M. Sankaran is a Distinguished Scientist of
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He took over as Director of U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), the lead Centre in the country for design, development and realisation of all satellites of ISRO, on June 01, 2021. He is currently leading satellite fraternity to realise various types of satellites to meet the national requirements in the areas like communication, navigation, remote sensing, meteorology and inter-planetary exploration.

Before taking over as Director, URSC he was functioning as Deputy Director for Communication and Power Systems Area in URSC and spearheading the developments. During his 35 years of experience in URSC / ISRO, he has contributed primarily in the areas of Solar arrays, Power systems, Satellite Positioning System and RF communication systems for Low Earth Orbit(LEO) Satellites, Geostationary Satellites, Navigation Satellites and Outer Space Missions like Chandrayaan, Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and others.

He was instrumental in successful realisation of the 70V bus for the ISRO satellites, unique design for power generation and distribution systems for the interplanetary mission like Chandrayaan-1 & 2, Mars Orbiter Mission, Astrosat, etc. He has fostered the industries in the country for fabrication and testing of solar panels, battery systems, etc.

Among his works in the recent years, he is leading the efforts towards to miniaturisation of avionics systems, indigenisation of Electronics & power system components, micro/mini satellite bus development, etc. He is also spearheading the avionics system design, realisation and qualification for the Gaganyaan Programme.

He joined the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), currently known as URSC after obtaining his Master's degree in Physics from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli in 1986.

He has been awarded ISRO's Performance Excellence Award for the Year 2017 and ISRO Team Excellence awards in 2017 and 2018. He has about 50 publications to his credit in Peer Reviewed Journals and International conferences.

Kusuma G Rao, a Doctorate in Atmospheric Sciences from Department of Aerospace, IISc, Bangalore, is currently the Director of IARSc, Bangalore. At present, she works with Global Precipitation Mission measurements under a proposal with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).

Her research interests are Mesoscale convective systems, monsoons, atmospheric boundary layer, mesoscale modelling for short term weather prediction, stratosphere-troposphere coupling. She was responsible for initiating Mesoscale Weather Prediction programme, “PRWONAM” at ISRO as Principal Scientist and Project Coordinator and pivotal in creating “Operational Weather Prediction System” in use at SDSC, Sriharikota supporting ISRO rocket launches. She worked for space missions, Megha-Tropiques and TRMM, and was Science coordinator for CAWSES-India programme. She was the Chief Scientist for ISRO’s GPS RO project (GEMSS). She made fundamental contributions to furthering our understanding of the monsoon boundary layer under DST project, MONTBLEX-90. She led the CAMS-98 field experiment within the Indian component of the GEWEX Asian Monsoon Experiment (GAME).

She was on NARL Scientific Advisory Committee and ISRO Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS). She was Invitee at the CLIVAR Monsoon Panel meeting, Korea, Chairperson of COSPAR-2004 sessions and Convener, MST-11 Session. Dr Kusuma has been co-convening sessions on Global Precipitation Science and Application of Satellite Data every year in AOGS meetings, since 2010. She served World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) as a member of the SPARC SSG (Science Steering Group) during 2012-2015.

Dr Kusuma is a professional Carnatic classical vocalist and is the Founder of Center for Excellence in Music and Applications (CEMA) Unit of IARSc.

He is currently the Vice Chair of Commission B4 (Terrestrial Planets) of COSPAR (Committee on Space Research). He served as the President of Planetary Science Section of the AOGS (Asia Oceania Geosciences Society) from 2016 to 2018. Prof. Sheel has convened sessions on Mars and Venus every year in AOGS meetings, since 2008. His primary area of scientific research is Planetary Atmospheres. His work has focused on the climate of Mars, to understand the physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere and how they affect its climate. He has made important contributions in modelling the effect of dust on the Martian ionosphere. Prof. Sheel is now also working on the climate and cloud layer of Venus. He is involved with some of the scientific instruments being developed for India’s future missions to Mars and Venus - in particular, he is the PI of the Radio Occultation Experiment. He is actively involved in teaching courses on Atmospheric Science and Numerical Methods at postgraduate level.