Vigyan Shri winner from Kerala has his sight set on Next Gen Launch Vehicle

“It’s really for our teamwork,” was how Jayan N., who recently took over as Project Director of Indian Space Research Organisation’s ambitious Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), reacted to the news of his winning the Vigyan Shri award on Saturday.

Mr. Jayan has won the award in the Space Science and Technology division of the 2025 edition of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP), the highest awards in the field of Science and Technology. It recognises his contributions to developing cryogenic engines for ISRO launch vehicles during his long stint at ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).

Joining the LPSC in 1991 after graduation, Mr. Jayan has worked all along on ISRO’s efforts to perfect the ‘desi’ cryogenic engine. He has put in considerable work on the design and development of cryogenic engines for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM3, previously known as GSLV Mk-III. In this area, he worked with the current ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan, who is a former LPSC Director and expert on cryogenic propulsion.

“This award recognises not just an individual contribution,” said Mr. Jayan, who rose to become a Deputy Director at LPSC. “A cryogenic engine cannot be developed by one or two people. It’s a big activity involving all ISRO centres,” he said.

The mighty NGLV

In September this year, Mr. Jayan moved to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) to take up another big challenge; building the NGLV. “It’s a big, big challenge. The present launch vehicles are nothing compared to it,” he said of the NGLV. “It’s a mammoth vehicle with three to four times the payload capability of our current ones. The technology in it is also a lot more advanced,” he says.

Then ISRO Chairman S. Somanath had announced ISRO’s plans to build the NGLV in October 2022. At 93 metres, the NGLV would be India’s tallest rocket and also the mightiest, with a payload capacity of 30 tonnes to low earth orbit (LEO). To compare, the LVM3, currently ISRO’s heftiest, stands 43.5 metres tall and has an LEO payload capability of around eight tonnes. The giant NGLV will also feature some challenging technologies, including the Liquid Oxygen-Methane (LOX-Methane) engine on which work is in progress. At LPSC, Mr. Jayan was the first Project Director for the LOX-Methane engine project.

Mr. Jayan was born and brought up in Thiruvananthapuram, although his roots are in Malappuram district. He is an alumnus of St. Joseph’s School and the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, where he took his BTech before joining ISRO. He later secured his MTech from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Mr. Jayan’s wife Sobha is Senior Accounts Officer at the Central Bureau of Communication. The couple has a daughter, Shweta, and a son, Sidharth.