K Sivan, Distinguished Scientist, ISRO, assumed office as the 12th Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). He replaces M.S. Dathan who has retired from service. Dr. Sivan, a native of Nagercoil, Tamilnadu had joined ISRO in 1982 in the PSLV project. He has contributed towards mission planning, design, integration, and analysis.

Dr Sivan commissioned a world class simulation facility in ISRO for mission synthesis and analysis. He played a major role in the establishment of parallel computing and hypersonic wind tunnel facilities. He evolved novel strategies for launching India’s Mars mission endeavour through the PSLV. He also spearheaded the Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) project.

In April 2011, Dr. Sivan joined the GSLV project as director. His leadership led to the successful flight of GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic stage. On July 1, 2014, Dr Sivan was appointed as the Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. He led the validation of the mission strategy for the critical orbit insertion under the Mars Orbiter Mission.

Tidbits

• VSSC is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• VSSC is located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• VSSC is mainly focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India’s satellite programme.
• VSSC is the largest among the ISRO facilities.
• VSSC has a large workforce of about 4500 employees, most of them specialists in frontier disciplines.