Born to humble farming family, Narayanan completed his early schooling in a Tamil medium school near their home.

“Towards January-end we have the GSLV Mk-II/IRNSS-1 K mission. We also have lined up the first of the uncrewed flights of the Gaganyaan program, the G-1 mission, as well as a commercial launch using the LVM3 launch vehicle,” rocket scientist V Narayanan explains his plans, as he is all set to replace S Somanath as the new Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman on January 14.

Born into a small farming family in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu to C. Vanniyaperumal, a farmer, and S. Thangammal, a homemaker, Narayanan, along with his siblings—three brothers and two sisters—completed his early schooling in a Tamil medium school near their home. Demonstrating his academic mettle, he was a class X topper in his school. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur, Narayanan completed his M Tech in Cryogenic Engineering and PhD in Aerospace Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur, where he was awarded a Silver Medal for achieving the first rank in the M Tech program.

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As a rocket and spacecraft propulsion expert, Narayanan joined the ISRO in 1984, kickstarting his journey to ascents through the ranks. Playing significant roles in various projects such as cryogenic technology, the moon (Chandrayaan 1, 2, and 3), Mars (Mangalyaan), and Aditya-L1 (to study the sun) missions, in addition to contributing to the process planning, process control, and realization of ablative nozzle systems, composite motor cases, and composite igniter cases, Narayanan proved his expertise. He was also one of the significant figures of the upcoming projects, such as Gaganyaan human spaceflight, the Chandrayaan-4 mission, and the development of the country’s own space station.

One of his notably recent successes was his dealing as the head of the Failure Analysis Committee for Chandrayaan 2, the mission in which the Vikram Lander crash-landed.  Chandrayaan 3 successfully landed at Shiv Shakti Point after he found a solution, adding a glorious feather to his credit.

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Currently the chairman of the National Level Human Rated Certification Board (HRCB) for Gaganyaan, India’s planned human spaceflight mission, he shows confidence in taking the ISRO to new heights as its chief. Speaking to The Hindu, the upcoming ISRO chief seems excited about the projects while acknowledging the huge responsibility he is entrusted with.

According to Narayanan, one of his top priorities is increasing India’s presence in space. “If you look at societal and strategic applications, today we have about 53 satellites in orbit. We need many more for communication, navigation, and earth observation purposes. ISRO on its own cannot meet this requirement,” says the upcoming ISRO chief, underlining that the reforms will help in this area and the organization has been giving opportunities to the private sector and the startup ecosystem.

Narayanan has also stressed the importance for ISRO of its collaboration with other space agencies while pointing out the country’s plan to expand its share in the space economy aspect. “In our development stage as a space agency, indeed there was support. Today, all the spacefaring nations truly understand our abilities and strengths. Strength respects strength,” The Hindu quoted the scientist.