Somanath was instrumental in the development of the GSLV MK-III launcher.

Newly appointed Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath said India needed new players in space sector to make “economically viable programs”. In an interview with India Today, Somanath spoke about the need to develop something substantial and challenging for the space sector.

Somanath said, “We need new players to come and make economically viable space program.”

“There is a need to develop something substantial and challenging for entire space sector. If you do the same thing in different shapes, it doesn't bring about change,” said Somanath.

He spoke about the assignments and challenges and said he intended to bring the benefit of space program to everyone meeting national needs.

“It's a really proud moment for me and for all those who are associated with me. I am really humbled by this assignment and look forward to the challenging times ahead. I would like to bring the benefit of space program to everybody and also meet the national needs. Apart from this, we need to expand it further and reach higher in terms of space economy,” said Somanath.

Somanath, who served as the director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, was instrumental in the development of the GSLV MK-III launcher and was a team leader for the Integration of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) during the early phases of his career.

It was under his leadership that first experimental flight of LVM3-X/CARE mission was successfully completed on December 18, 2014. The expectations are quite high as this scientist from Kerala took up one of the most challenging roles in the country.

Somanath said that India needed to look at space from an economic perspective. “How to bring in manufacturing and production in industry to bring about cost effectiveness, how to make it more available to the global market, how to put new applications in space sector which will really bring about changes and new users are all the new challenges before us,” he said.

A graduate in mechanical engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, and a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Somanath joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in 1985.

Somanath has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman of the Space Commission for a three-year term.