Madhavan Chandradathan is an Indian space researcher and the leader of the launch authorization board of the Chandrayaan-1 space project. The Government of India respected him, in 2014, by granting him the Padma Shri, the fourth most noteworthy regular citizen grant, for his commitments to the fields of science and innovation. He was born in Varkala, Kerala, India. He graduated in chemical engineering from the Government Engineering College, Thrissur in 1971 and secured a graduate degree (M.Tech) from the Birla Institute of Technology in 1985. Chandradathan began his career in 1972, by joining the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he worked for the SLV-3 venture, the development of solid propellant formulations.Later, Chandradathan took up the task of creating rocket spouts basically for solid engines. He turned into the leader of the ablative nozzle production unit in 2000, where he stayed till 2004. In January 2013, he became the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), which controlled the Thiruvananthapuram, Mahendragiri and Bangalore campuses of the ISRO. In June 2014, he was made the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). He was also the head of the launch authorization board of Chandrayaan-1 project.