S. Somanath

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

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).

Somanath is married to Valsala, with whom he has a daughter and a son.

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.

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.

Somanath completed his 3-year tenure as ISRO's Chairman on 14 January 2025 and this period is known as one of the best in the history of ISRO. 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. The successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, Aditya-L1 launch and impact developments on the Gaganyaan front gave the public a positive view of him, with the India Today declaring that he "[left] behind a legacy with unparalleled achievements."

He was succeeded by V. Narayanan. Somanath is currently serving as the chancellor of Chanakya University.

In 2025, he was also appointed as the Space Tech Advisor to the Government of Andhra Pradesh

In November 2023, S. Somanath’s Malayalam memoir Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal (“The lions that guzzled the moonlight”) drew media attention after excerpts from the book reportedly contained remarks about his predecessor, former ISRO Chairman K. Sivan, and events surrounding the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Following the controversy, Somanath announced that he was withdrawing the book from publication, clarifying that it was not intended to criticise any individual or organisation.

Earlier in August 2023, Somanath’s public comments distinguishing science and belief, made during discussions about naming the Chandrayaan-3 landing site “Shiv Shakti Point,” also received mixed reactions on social media and in sections of the press. In September 2024, the Breakthrough Science society (BSS), a voluntary organisation promoting scientific temper and rational thinking, raised objections to ISRO Chairman Somanath'sremarks praising the role of Sanskrit in India’s emergence as a knowledge society since Vedic times. The organisation stated that such claims promote a “mythological view of history” and blur the distinction between scientific reasoning and cultural belief. The statement by BSS called for separating scientific achievements from religious or linguistic traditions to preserve the objectivity of science.

In July 2024, The New Indian Express reported that a group of senior ISRO scientists had raised complaints about alleged unfairness in promotions and extensions of service within the organisation. The report cited claims of “discrimination” and “caste and regional considerations” influencing key administrative decisions, including the granting of two-year extensions to a few directors while others received only one-year terms. Some scientists alleged that certain appointments and promotions favoured individuals said to be close to him. The news paper also reported that one person, a “close friend” of Somanath, was promoted unfairly.