THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: SR Biju, a native of Kuravankonam, Thiruvananthapuram, was the helmsman of the PSLV that successfully launched the Aditya L-1 probe into orbit. Being the PSLV Project Director, he was also the Mission Director for the new version, PSLV XL C57. Biju was responsible for supervising and coordinating the rocket. PSLV was completely designed by VSSC Thiruvananthapuram. Biju also led the mission design. Biju revealed that since the task came right after the success of Chandrayaan, there was a lot of pressure.

Biju studied computer science from CET in 1989 and joined VSSC in 1991. He has been a part of PSLV since 1993 and has been the project director of PSLV since 2019. His wife, Meenakrishnan, is a paediatrician at SK Hospital. His son Rahul M Biju is an engineering student and his daughter Dhanya M Biju is an MBBS student.

MJ Lal and Damodaran in PSLV team

PSLV's Vehicle Director MJ Lal is a native of Kuravankonam and Associate Vehicle Director Damodaran hails from Kudappanakunnu. The various parts of PSLV were assembled at Sriharikota. The task of the Vehicle Director is to assemble, inspect and review these. There are other Malayalis in the group. They say that PSLV is capable of handling any type of mission and the support given by ISRO Chairman S Somanath gave them confidence.