ISRO - Indian Space Research Organization, is one of the important national space agencies in India. It has full authorization for the space research programs in India with the overall guidance of the Space Commission. The ISRO Chairman is the head person of the organization who controls full responsibility for all aspects of the space programs under the overall guidance of the space commission. In the ISRO chairman list there are 10 chairmans till now. This article, the ISRO chairman list from the years 1963 to 2025 with the full form of ISRO, the history of ISRO, the ISRO chairman list from 1963 to 2025 with their tenure period, and photos of the chairman.

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PRESENT ISRO CHAIRMAN

ISRO Full Form

The full form of ISRO is the Indian Space Research Organisation. ISRO is headquartered in Bengaluru. ISRO is the Indian Space Agency which involves science, engineering, and technology to collect the benefits of outer space for India and mankind. The major constituent of the Department of Space (DOS), Government of India is Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

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ISRO History

• ISRO was formed on August 15, 1969, which superseded INCOSPAR by extending the exploitation of space technology.

• In 1972, ISRO was brought under the Department of Space (DOS).

• The chairman of ISRO is the secretary of the Department Of Space.

• The development and application of space technology is the main objective of ISRO or DOS.

• ISRO has formed various space systems for communication, television broadcasting and meteorological services, resource monitoring, and space-based navigation services.

• ISRO develops the satellite launch vehicles PSLV and GSLV.

Who is the Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation?

• Dr. V. Narayanan is a Distinguished Scientist (Apex Grade) who assumed the charge of Secretary, of the Department of Space (DoS), Chairman, of the Space Commission, and Chairman.

• He became Chairman of ISRO on 13th January 2025.

• Before this position, he worked as the Project Director for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) C25 Crynogenic Project. 

• It uses Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen to power a 20-ton thrust engine. After the developments, the GSLV MK III project was successfully launched.  

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ISRO Chairman List 

Here we have provided the answers to frequently asked questions ISRO Chairman list contains the ISRO chief's full name, the ISRO first chairman name, the present chairman of ISRO's full name, who is the current chairman of ISRO, who is the first ISRO chairman, and how to become a chairman of ISRO.

ISRO Chairman List from 1963 to 2025
S.No.	ISRO Chairman Name	Tenure	Photo
1	Dr. Vikram Sarabhai	1963 to 1971
2	Prof. M.G.K. Menon	Jan. 1972 to Sep. 1972
3	Prof. Satish Dhawan	1972 to 1984
4	Prof. U.R. Rao	1984 to 1994
5	Dr. K. Kasturirangan	1994 to 2003
6	G. Madhavan Nair	2003 to 2009
7	Dr. K. Radhakrishnan	2009 to 2014
8	A.S. Kiran Kumar	2015 to 2018
9	Shailesh Nayak	1 Jan 2015 to 12 Jan 2015
10	Dr. K. Sivan	Jan. 2018 to Jan. 2022
11	S. Somanath	2022- 2025
12	V.Narayanan	Present

ISRO Chairman List form 1936 - 2025

1) Dr. Vikram Sarabhai (1963 to 1971)

• He is considered the Father of the Indian Space Program and he is the first on the ISRO chairman list.

• Vikram Sarabhai's contributions to ISRO are as follows.

  • Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad

  • Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

  • Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad

  • Darpan Academy for Performing Arts, Ahmedabad (along with his wife)

  • Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram

  • Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad (This institution came into existence after merging six institutions/centers established by Vikram Sarabhai)

  • Faster Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), Kalpakkam

  • Variable Energy Cyclotron Project, Calcutta

  • Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad

  • Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), Jaduguda, Bihar

• He also received awards like the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 1962, Padma Bhushan in 1966, and Padma Vibhushan in 1972 (posthumous).

2) Prof. M.G.K. Menon (Jan. 1972 to Sep. 1972)

• M.G.K. Menon was an advisor in the Department of Space/ Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

• He was well known for his scientific works in Cosmic Rays and Particle Physics.

• He got various awards like Padma Shri in 1961, Padma Bhushan in 1968, Padma Vibhushan in 1985, Bhatnagar Award in 1960, ISCA Chat-tree Award in 1984, Om Prakash Bhasin Award in 1985, Modi Award for Science in 1994, and Abdus Salem Medal in 1996.

3) Prof. Satish Dhawan (1972 to 1984)

• Prof. Satish Dhawan was an Indian Rocket Scientist a father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India and one of the most eminent researchers in the field of turbulence and boundary layers.

• His research includes boundary layer research, relaminarization of separated boundary layer flows, three-dimensional boundary layers, and trisonic flows. He has also done various experiments in rural education, remote sensing, and satellite communications.

• His contributions to INSAT- a telecommunications satellite, IRS - the Indian Remote Sensing satellite and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) have made India an important nation in Space science.

4) Prof. Udupi Ramachandra Rao (1984 to 1994)

• Prof U R Rao was an internationally renowned space scientist known as "The Satellite Man of India".

• He has contributed to the development of space technology in India and its extensive application to communications and remote sensing of natural resources.

• In 1975, U R Rao played a lead role in designing the first Indian Satellite "Aryabhata".

5) Dr. K. Kasturirangan (1994 to 2003)

• Dr. Kasturirangan contributed to the development of new generation spacecraft, Indian National Satellite (INSAT-2), and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS-1A & 1B) as well as scientific satellites.

• He is the Project Director for India's first two experimental earth observation satellites, BHASKARA-I & II, and the first operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A.

• Under his leadership successful launching and operationalization of India's prestigious launch vehicle, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), and the first successful flight testing of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) was undergone.

6) G. Madhavan Nair (2003 to 2009)

• Under the leadership of G Madhavan Nair 25 successful missions were completed.

• They are as follows INSAT-3E, RESOURCESAT-1, EDUSAT, CARTOSAT-1, HAMSAT-1, INSAT-4A, PSLV-C5, GSLV-F1, PSLV-C6, CARTOSAT-2, INSAT-4B, SRE-1, PSLV-C7, PSLV-C8, GSLV-F04, INSAT-4CR, PSLV-C10, CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1, PSLV-C9, CHANDRAYAAN-1, PSLV-C11, PSLV-12, PSLV-C14 and OCEANSAT-2.

7) Dr. K. Radhakrishnan (2009 to 2014)

• Dr. Radhakrishnan is the Founder and Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).

• He is the first Project Director of the Indian National Tsunami Warning System.

• He also held several important positions at the international level including Vice Chairman of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (2001-05),

• From 2001- 2006, he was the Founder and Chairman of the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System, and

• In 2008- 2009, he was the Chairman of the Working Group of the Whole UN-COPUOS STSC.

8) Shailesh Nayak (1 Jan 2015 to 12 Jan 2015)

• Shailesh Nayak is the interim ISRO chairman for only 11 days from 1 Jan 2015 to 12 Jan 2015. 

• He was primarily engaged in studies related to oceanography and remote sensing.

• He won the Padma Shree Award winner for the field of science and engineering in 2024.

• He won the Award for making the Tsunami warning and AQI-based pollution monitoring system

9) A.S. Kiran Kumar (2015 to 2018)

• Mr AlurSeelin Kiran Kumar made contributions to the design and development of Electro-Optical Imaging Sensors for Airborne, Low Earth Orbit, and Geostationary Orbit satellites starting from Bhaskara TV payload to the Mars Orbiter Mission payloads.

• He evolved the successful strategy for steering the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft toward planet Mars as well as its Mars Orbit Insertion.

• He was the President of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), the Indian Society of Geomatics (ISG), and the Astronautical Society of India (ASI).

• He was also a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

10) Dr. K. Sivan (Jan. 2018 to Jan. 2022)

• K. Sivan specializes in Aerospace engineering, Space Transportation Systems Engineering, Launch vehicle, and mission design, control & guidance design and mission simulation software design, Mission synthesis, simulation, analysis, and validation of flight systems.

• He made his contributions to GSLV MkII & MkIII including RLV-TD.

• He is the chief architect of 6D trajectory simulation software, SITARA.

• He was the chief mission architect for the successful launching of 104 satellites in a single mission of PSLV.

11) S. Somanath (2022- 2025)

• In December 2014, under the leadership of S. Somanath,  the first Experimental flight of the LVM3-X/CARE mission was successfully carried out.

• He is an expert in the area of system engineering of launch vehicles.

• Under his leadership, VSSC has achieved significant feats like the Crew Escape System demonstration through the Pad Abort Test (PAT), the launch of GSLV Mk-III M1/Chandrayaan 2, the launch of the 50th PSLV, PS4 orbital platform experiments, etc.

• Recently for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission, he headed the development of critical systems including crew module systems, human rating of GSLV Mk-III, integrated vehicle health monitoring system, etc.,

12) Dr. V.Narayanan (2025)

• Narayanan is a Rocket and Spacecraft Propulsion Expert, who joined ISRO in 1984 and functioned in various capacities before becoming Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in January 2018.

• Human Space Flight Gaganyaan Programme, he contributed to the Human Rating of the LVM3 vehicle, the development of Human rated L110 and C32 Cryogenic Stages, Environmental Control & Life Support System, Service, and Crew module propulsion systems, and Test vehicle for Crew escape system demonstration.

• As Chairman of the Gaganyaan Certification Board, he contributed to the certification process of various systems for Human Space Flight.

• He contributed to the process of planning, control, and realization of the Ablative Nozzle System, composite motor cases, and composite igniter cases.

FAQs

Some of the frequently asked questions by the students are given below for reference.

Q. Who was the first Chairman of ISRO?

A. Dr Vikram A Sarabhai is the first chairman of ISRO.

Q. Who is known as the Rocket Man of India?

A. K. Sivan is known as the Rocket Man of India.

Q. Who is the present chairman of ISRO 2025?

A. V. Narayanan is the present chairman of ISRO 2025.

Q. Where is the headquarters of ISRO?

A. ISRO is headquartered in Bengaluru.