A. S. Kiran Kumar

Shri A. S. Kiran Kumar is Vikram Sarabhai Professor at ISRO, Bangalore and Member of the Space Commission, Govt of India. During 2015-2018, he has served as Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO. He has steered the implementation of Indian Space Programme enabling rapid advancements in earth observation, communication, navigation, meteorology and space science as well as development of indigenous launch vehicles for providing assured access to space. He has played vital role in the development of more than 50 Electro-Optical Imaging Sensors for Space borne platforms starting from Bhaskara satellite in 1979. He has been instrumental in the success of Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Missions.

He holds M.Sc. in Physics (Electronics) from Bangalore University and M.Tech. in Physical Engineering from IISC. He was born on October 22, 1952 in Karnataka.

He has been the Chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites in 2012 and has made valuable contributions to Coordination Group of Meteorological Satellites (CGMS), Expert Team on Satellite Systems – World Meteorological Organisation and Indo-US Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation.

In recognition of his contributions, he was conferred: Padma Shri by the President of India in 2014, 2018 International von Karman Wings Award instituted by the Aerospace Historical Society, together with CALTECH in 2018 and the Chevalier de l'Ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur by the Government of France in 2019. He is recipient of many accolades from various Indian institutions.