NEW DELHI: Veteran space scientist G Narayanan has been named the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation’s newly formed commercial entity New Space India Ltd ( NSIL ).

Narayanan was earlier working as deputy director (systems reliability and quality assurance) at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre ( LPSC ), a Thiruvananthapuram-based unit of Isro that designs, develops liquid propulsion stages for launch vehicles. Narayanan has to resign from Isro before taking charge of NSIL as the new commercial entity is a public sector undertaking.

Narayanan, who hails from Kerala’s Palakkad, had earlier worked as first secretary (space) at the Indian embassy in Paris. An alumnus of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, Narayanan joined Isro in 1983.

NSIL was set up in March last year to meet the ever-increasing demands of the Indian space programme and commercially exploit the emerging global space market. It will also manufacture the small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) or mini-PSLV in collaboration with the private sector and help in the production of polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and other space-based products through the industry. For the SSLV launches, Isro is already working on a new launchpad in Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

Despite having commercial arm Antrix Corporation that handles commercial satellite launches, the department of space set up the NSIL in order to push transfer of Isro technologies to the industry and market spin-off technologies and services.