Alongside the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), two other Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) units in Thiruvananthapuram – the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) and the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) – are also getting new directors.

N. Jayan has been appointed as the director of LPSC. Joji J. Chaman will be the director of the IISU. They will take charge from July 1.

During his career with ISRO, Mr. Jayan has held key positions including associate director of LPSC, project director of the Cryogenic Stage Project, and project director of the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV) project at VSSC. Mr. Jayan played a pivotal role in the indigenous development of India’s cryogenic propulsion technology, ISRO said. He led the team that developed the CE20 cryogenic engine, which powers the GSLV Mk III (LVM3) launch vehicle.

Mr. Jayan, who hails from Mannamoola, Thiruvananthapuram, is an alumnus of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

He won the 2025 Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, the nation’s highest honour in the field of science, for contributions to space research. His wife Shobha Jayan is a senior accounts officer in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. They have two children, Shwetha and Siddharth.

Mr. Chaman, selected to head IISU, has rich experience in inertial sensors and system design, precision manufacturing and space robotics. He holds five patents in the field of inertial sensor technology. Mr. Chaman has contributed to the three Chandrayaan mission and the ‘Mangalyaan’ Mars mission. He is an alumnus of National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode, and BITS Pilani. His wife Bindu is a professor at the Government Homoeopathy College, Thiruvananthapuram. The couple has two sons, Jobin and Jubin.

Recently, ISRO had announced the appointment of U.P. Rajeev as the new director of VSSC. He was working as associate director (Research and Development), VSSC.