The head of ISRO, S Somanath, announced that he won’t release his autobiography anymore due to a dispute about some of his supposed critical comments regarding the previous ISRO chairman, K Sivan.
In an interview he said, “At no point have I said that Dr. Sivan tried to prevent me from becoming the Chairman. All I said was that being made a member of the Space Commission is generally seen as a stepping stone to (ISRO’s chairmanship). However, a director from another (ISRO centre) was placed, so naturally that trimmed my chances (at chairmanship).”
Somanath mentioned that he initially penned the book “Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal” (which roughly means – Lions That Drank The Moonlight) with the intention of motivating people to overcome life’s hurdles and achieve their goals, not to criticize anyone.
Hailing from Alappuzha in Kerala, Somanath was passionate about science since his school days, studying in the Malayalam medium. Despite his father being a Hindi teacher, he supported Somanath’s love for science by providing him with books in both Malayalam and English.
He pursued Mechanical Engineering and developed a keen interest in space. During college, he requested his professor to teach him rocket propulsion, a subject not traditionally included in the engineering curriculum. Surprisingly, the faculty readily agreed, and the TKM College of Engineering in Kollam began offering the course to a small group of interested students.
While in college, Somanath applied for a position at ISRO, which was hiring young engineers for the PSLV program. His exceptional academic performance led to his recruitment, marking the start of his journey toward fulfilling his childhood dream of studying celestial bodies.
He started his journey at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1985, taking the lead in developing rockets and leading the integration of the PSLV rocket in its early stages.
He then became part of the GSLV MkIII Project in 2003 and served as the deputy project director, overseeing the design and integration of India’s most robust rocket.
He led the team at ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, achieving the development and qualification of the CE20 cryogenic engine and the C25 stage, which was successfully utilized in the GSLV MkIII-D1 flight.
Under his guidance, the propulsion systems supplied from LPSC facilitated the completion of 15 successful satellite missions.
Dr. Somanath’s contributions extended to the development of high-thrust semi-cryogenic engines, throttleable engines for the Chandrayaan-2 moon lander, and the successful deployment of an electric propulsion system in GSAT-9, among other notable achievements.
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