Government appoints Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar as ISRO chairman

Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar has been appointed chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

His name was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He will replace former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan who had retired on 31 December 2014. He will have tenure of 3 years from the date he take charge.

Previously, Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, was given additional charge of ISRO till the appointment of a new head following the retirement of K Radhakrishnan.

About Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar

• Education: He has an honours degree in Physics from National College, Bangalore University and an M Tech in Physical Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
• ISRO career: In 1975, he started his ISRO career with the Space Application Centre.
• He had played a key role in developing image sensors for Bhaskara- India’s first remote sensing satellite launched in 1979.
• He also had played important role in developing key components of India’s Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan missions.
• Before this appointment, he was director of Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad.
• Awards: In 2014, he was awarded Padma Shri.