ISRO Chief K Sivan gets one-year extension as Department of Space secretary till 2022

Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) K Sivan’s tenure as the secretary of Department of Space has been extended for another year till January 14, 2022, said Personnel Ministry order issued on December 30. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has formally approved the one-year extension as Space Secretary and Space Commission Chairman beyond January 14, 2021, that is up to January 14, 2022. Sivan, who joined ISRO in 1982, has been the chairman of the space agency since January 2018.

ISRO chief has imminent knowledge in Aerospace engineering, Space Transportation Systems Engineering, Launch vehicles, mission simulation software design and many other operations related to Space programs. According to the official website of ISRO, 63-year-old Sivan is also the main architect of 6D trajectory simulation software, SITARA which is the foundation of both the real-time and non-real-time trajectory simulations of all vehicles developed in the space agency. 

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Sivan joined ISRO to Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle 

In 1982, K Sivan to Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Project and according to ISRO’s website, he has made rich contributions towards the end to end mission planning. The website said, “The mission design process and innovative mission design strategies perfected by him for PSLV has become the foundation for ISRO launch vehicles like Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV),  GSLV Mk-III, as well as Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator(RLV-TD).”

“Dr Sivan has made an immense contribution towards establishing a parallel computing facility and Hypersonic wind tunnel facility, which has opened new avenues in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics and self-reliance in wind tunnel testing. He evolved novel strategies for launching India’sMars Orbiter spacecraft through PSLV. He also led the RLV-TD development programme and spearheaded its design, qualification, aerodynamic characterisation and hardware development.”

Further, Sivan has several publications and awards to his name including Dr Biren Roy space science award for the year 2011, ISRO merit award for the year 2007 and Shri Hari Om Ashram Prerit Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research award for the year 1999. He has published, ‘Fellow of Indian National Academy of Engineering, Aeronautical Society of India and Systems Society of India.’.

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