A. Rajarajan

Arumugham Rajarajan is an Indian aerospace engineer and scientist with ISRO. He is serving as the director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), one of the major centre of ISRO responsible for the development of launch vehicles.^[1][2] He assumed charge on 1 August 2025.^[3]

Arumugham Rajarajan
Known for	Composite structures; launch vehicle development; Director of VSSC and SDSC-SHAR
Awards	Honorary doctorate (Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology)
Scientific career
Fields	Aerospace engineering; Launch vehicle systems
Institutions	ISRO

Rajarajan previously served as the director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), ISRO’s primary spaceport at Sriharikota.^[4][5]

He is known for his expertise as a composites specialist and a key contributor to launch vehicle programmes, including PSLV, GSLV and LVM3.^[6]

Early career

Rajarajan joined ISRO in 1987.^[7] His early work primarily focused on structural engineering, composites, spacecraft structures, and ISRO’s launch vehicle systems.^[2]

Career

Indian Space Research Organisation

Over his career with ISRO, Rajarajan has worked in areas such as structural design, composite materials, stage integration, mission readiness and launch operations. He also played critical roles in ISRO's various launch vehicle programmes including PSLV, GSLV and LVM3.^[8]

Director, SDSC SHAR

As director of SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota, Rajarajan looked after the launch operations, modernisation of ground infrastructure and activities supporting commercial launch services.^[9] During this tenure as director, he was associated with major missions including Aditya-L1, Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3 .^[10]

Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

Rajarajan assumed charge as the director of VSSC on 1 August 2025, succeeding S. Unnikrishnan Nair.^[1] In his present role, he leads the centre in the development and qualification of ISRO’s launch vehicle fleet, advanced propulsion systems, composite structures and human-rated vehicle initiatives.^[11]

Contributions

Independent news reporting highlights:

• his role as a composites specialist^[6]
• indigenisation of solid-motor and composite structure
• leadership in launchpad infrastructure upgrades
• involvement in pre-Gaganyaan mission testing^[12]

Other roles

Rajarajan also associated with the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) and other institutional mechanisms supporting India’s commercial space sector.^[13]

Honours

He was awarded an honorary doctorate (Honoris Causa) by Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology.^[14]