Shivakumar is satellite centre chief

Scientist and associate director of the Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Centre (ISAC) S. K. Shivakumar took over as its director on Saturday. He succeeds T. K. Alex.

ISAC is ISRO's centre for conceptualisation, design, fabrication, testing, integration and in-orbit commissioning of satellite systems involving various cutting edge technologies.

Mr. Shivakumar’s tenure with ISAC spans two decades, between 1978 and 1998 during which he contributed immensely to the mission planning, analysis and operations of several Indian satellite missions including Bhaskara, APPLE, IRS and INSAT, a press release from ISRO stated. Significantly, he was the project director for realising India’s first indigenous Deep Space Network antenna at Byalalu, near Bangalore, used for communicating with India's first moon mission Chandrayaan-1. The release added: “He played a key role in realising the entire ground segment for Chandrayaan-1 mission including the Indian Space Science Data Centre at Byalalu.”

After he left ISAC in 1998, he worked as the director of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), which maintains the large constellation of Indian Remote Sensing Satellites in orbit and provides support to satellite launch vehicle missions with a world-wide network of ground stations.

He obtained his bachelors degree in science from Mysore University and went on to do a BE in Electrical Communications Engineering, followed by an MTech in Physical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He started working in ISRO in 1976.
Shivakumar is satellite centre chief