BiographyShri A. S. Kiran Kumar is Vikram Sarabhai Professor at the Indian Space Research Organisation, Bangalore. He is a Member of the Space Commission, Government of India and Member, Governing Council, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. During the period from January, 2015 to January, 2018, he has served as Secretary, Department of Space, Chairman, Space Commission and Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation.

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

In recognition of his contributions, he was conferred Padma Shri award by the President of India in 2014. Shri Kiran Kumar has been conferred with the prestigious 2018 International von Karman Wings Award instituted by the Aerospace Historical Society, in collaboration with the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at the California Institute of Technology, on November 08, 2018 and the Chevalier de l'Ordre national de la Lgion d'Honneur the highest civilian honour by the Government of France on May 02, 2019.