Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has got a new chairman K Sivan. He is holding the position of Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram. Now, he will take over Mr. A.S. Kiran Kumar for a three year term as the ISRO chief. After G Madhavan Nair, he is the second rocket scientist to head ISRO. For India, launching Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) 100th satellite is a great achievement.
When Sivan was informed about this appointment, he was reviewing the mission readiness of India’s workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). At ISRO, his priority would allow a public-private consortium to build the PSLV rocket.
Who is K Sivan?
K Sivan was born in Nagercoil, the border town of Tamil Nadu. He is a graduate in aeronautical engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Later, he did masters from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 2006, he got a doctorate in aerospace engineering from IIT-Bombay.
He was project director of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and worked on GSLV Mk-Ill vehicle design. He also worked on technology demonstrator of the reusable launch vehicle (RLV-TD). He also worked on SITARA, the backbone of the trajectory simulations of all ISRO launch vehicles.
His numerous publications are published in various journals. Mr Sivan helped ISRO to send 104 satellites in a single mission, setting a world record in February last year. This achievement gave him title Rocket man.
