Dr P S Goel was the Director of URSC from November 1997 to May 2005. Starting his career with the RS-1 satellite, he held several senior positions at URSC and also served as Associate Director of the centre. He was Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences from 2005 to 2008 and later Chairman RAC, DRDO. Currently, he is Prof MGK Menon DRDO Chair and Honorary Distinguished ISRO Professor.

He did his BE in Electrical Engineering from University of Jodhpur, ME in Applied Electronics and Servomechanism from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and PhD from Bangalore University.

Dr. Goel has an impressive list of accomplishments and has been recognized both at home and abroad for his work in the development of satellite technology. He has initiated research and development for Satellite Control Systems and guided the country's space programme for decades. He has contributed significantly to the development of attitude control system, mission planning for remote sensing, communication and scientific missions.

He is the recipient of many awards for his outstanding contributions in the field of science and technology which includes

• Special Achievement Award for Aryabhata (1975)
• Hari Om Ashram Prerit Vikram Sarabhai Research Award in System Analysis & Management (1983)
• Astronautical Society of India Award in the field of Spacecraft & Related Technologies (1992)
• VASVIK Research Award for Electrical Sciences and Technology (1992)
• Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Space & Aerospace Technologies (1995)
• 'Padmashri' by the Government of India (2001)
• Vigyan Gaurav Samman for advancement of Science & Technology (2002) by the Government of Uttar Pradesh
• Ramanujam Award of Systems Society of India (2002)
• GP Chatterjee Memorial Award for design and development of satellite technologies by Indian Science Congress Association (2003)

He is a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad; Institution of Electronic & Telecommunication Engineers, New Delhi, Aeronautical Society of India, Bangalore and Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). He is an Honorary Fellow of Electrochemical Society of India, Bangalore and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He is also a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, Paris.