“...Another objective is to align the overall space programme with the vision the government has put forth where DoS has to really become an enabler to cause the expansion of space enterprise in India. This will be done through appropriate legislation, framework and guidelines that have to be put in place,” Somanath told media.

Somanath earned his B.Tech in mechanical engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, and a Masters in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) with a gold medal, where he specialised in “structures, dynamics and control.

He joined VSSC in 1985 and was a team leader for integration of PSLV during the early phases. As PSLV project manager, he handled areas of mechanisms, pyro systems, integration and satellite launch service management.

According to Isro records, he joined the GSLV MkIII Project during 2003 and was the deputy project director responsible for overall design of the vehicle, mission design, structural design and integration before becoming the project director of GSLV Mk-III from June 2010 to 2014. Under his leadership, the first experimental flight of the CARE mission was successfully accomplished on December 18, 2014.

“He is an expert in the area of system engineering of launch vehicles. His contributions in PSLV and GSLV MkIII were in their overall architecture, propulsion stages design, structural and structural dynamics designs, separation systems, vehicle integration and integration procedures development,” VSSC’s description of Somanath reads..

He has also led the LPSC team to complete the development and qualification of CE20 cryogenic engine and the C25 stage and was successfully flown in GSLV MkIII-D1 flight. “He also played a key role in three successful missions of GSLV with indigenous cryogenic stages and eleven successful missions of PSLV with the liquid stages realized by LPSC. Fifteen successful satellite missions were also accomplished with the propulsion systems supplied from LPSC,” the description reads.

(With inputs from agencies)