S. Somanath

In this Indian name, the name Sreedhara Panicker is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Somanath.

Dr. Sreedhara Panicker Somanath (born July 1963) is an Indian aerospace engineer served as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).^[2] Under his chairmanship, ISRO carried out the third Indian lunar exploration mission named Chandrayaan-3. The lander named Vikram and the rover named Pragyan landed near the lunar south pole region on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST, making India the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and the fourth country to demonstrate soft landing on the Moon.^[3][4][5][6]

Dr. S. Somanath
Somanath in 2019
10th Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation
In office 15 January 2022 (2022-01-15) – 14 January 2025 (2025-01-14)
Preceded by	K. Sivan
Succeeded by	V. Narayanan
Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
In office 24 January 2018 – 14 January 2022
Preceded by	K. Sivan
Succeeded by	S. Unnikrishnan Nair[1]
Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre
In office 1 January 2015 – 23 January 2018
Preceded by	K. Sivan
Succeeded by	V. Narayanan
Personal details
Born	July 1963 (age 61) Thuravoor, Cherthala, Kerala, India
Spouse	Valsalakumari
Children	2
Alma mater	Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering (B.Tech., Mechanical Engineering) Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (M.Tech. in Aerospace Engineering) Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (PhD)

Somanath served as the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram and director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.^[7][8] Somanath is known for his contributions to launch vehicle design, particularly in the areas of launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, and pyrotechnics.^[9][10]

Early life and education

Somanath was born in a Malayali Nair family^[11] as a child of V. Sreedhara Panicker, a Hindi teacher, and Thankamma at Thuravoor in Alappuzha district of Kerala.^[12]

Somanath studied at St. Augustine's High School, Aroor, and completed the Pre-Degree course from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam. He then received his graduate degree in mechanical engineering from Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering, Kollam, and a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, with a specialization in dynamics and control. He was awarded a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras).^[13]

Somanath is married to Valsala, with whom he has a daughter and a son.^[14]

Career

After his graduation, Somanath joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1985. He was associated with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle project during its initial phase. He became associate director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the project director of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III launch vehicle in 2010. He was also the deputy director of the Propulsion and Space Ordnance Entity till November 2014.^[9]

In June 2015, he took over as director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Valiamala, Thiruvananthapuram and served until January 2018. Somanath took over as director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre from K. Sivan who became chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. In January 2022, he took over as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, again succeeding K. Sivan.

In recognition of his contributions to the field of science, Somanath was awarded a Doctorate of Science (Honoris Causa) on 25 September by SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of the 18th Annual Convocation.^[15][16] On 23 August 2023, he as ISRO chairman spearheaded the soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the lunar surface along with other notable senior ISRO scientists.

Somanath earned his PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras and was awarded his doctorate during the institute's 61st convocation on 19 July 2024.^[17][18]

Somanath completed his 3-year tenure as ISRO's Chairman on 14 January 2025 and this period is hailed as one of the best in the history of ISRO. Successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, Aditya-L1 launch and impact developments on the Gaganyaan front all put Somanath as a leader who delivered, inspiring his team and the nation. The headlines were univocal in declaring that he left a legacy with unparalleled achievements.^[19]

He was succeeded by V. Narayanan.^[20]

Awards

Uttarakhand Technical University conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt.) on him during its 7th convocation held on 10 October 2023.^[21]

In 2014, S Somnath received performance excellence award for GSLV Mk-III realization from ISRO.^[22][23][24] In 2023, the Government of Karnataka felicitated him with the prestigious Rajyotsava award.^[25][26] He also received the K.P.P Nambiar Award in February 2024.

In October 2024, he won the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) World Space Award at Milan, Italy, for the huge success of Chandrayaan-3 in 2023.^[27][28]