S. Unnikrishnan Nair

S. Unnikrishnan Nair is an Indian aerospace engineer presently serving as the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. He is known for his works in the field of launch vehicle design, Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, and Human Spaceflight Programme. Prior to his directorship of VSSC, he was Director of Human Space Flight Centre, Bengaluru.

Early life and education

S. Unnikrishnan Nair was born to Sreedharan Nair, who was an employee at the Kottayam Survey Office, and Rajamma.
Nair received his B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Mar Athanasius College of Engineering affiliated to Kerala University, ME in Aerospace Engineering from IISc, Bengaluru, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras, Chennai.

Career

Nair joined VSSC in 1985. He is currently the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
He held the additional charge of the director at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology from 2022 to 2024.

Personal life

S. Unnikrishnan Nair is married to Jaya G Nair, a former computer engineer at VSSC. The couple has two daughters.

Awards and honors

ISRO Team Excellence Award for his contributions to SRE.