The associations on Sunday wrote to ISRO Chairperson V Narayanan, raising questions about the agency’s future role, the impact on serving employees and the implications for future recruitment. The letter, dated September 4, came days after ISRO successfully launched GSLV-F17, placing EOS-05 into its intended orbit.
The move also follows remarks by IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka that ISRO would eventually stop manufacturing launch vehicles, with the work to be undertaken by private companies or PSUs. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also backed the employees’ call for clarity.
Goenka, however, said on Sunday that the role of ISRO is not diminishing and that the space agency will continue to serve as the foundation of India’s growing space sector. IN-SPACe, an autonomous body under the Department of Space, is responsible for promoting, facilitating, authorising and overseeing space activities undertaken by private entities.
The employee associations clarified that they are not opposed to private-sector participation itself. Their concerns centre on how far the transition will go, which functions will remain with ISRO and what the changes could mean for employees and the agency’s core capabilities.
“Private participation in defined commercial activities can coexist with a strong, publicly owned ISRO. What cannot be accepted without debate is a policy that reduces ISRO to a residual R&D (research and development) boutique while the realisation of the nation's launch vehicles and the operation of its launch infrastructure pass out of public hands,” the letter said.
The associations also stated, “Technology developed by ISRO is a national asset. Its transfer must be transparent, accountable and consistent with strategic, safety and employment considerations -- not presented to employees through newspaper reports.”
They sought clarification on whether the design, development, realisation, integration, testing and launch of PSLV, LVM3, SSLV and successor vehicles would continue as ISRO functions or cease to be handled by the agency.
India opened more space activities to private players after the 2020 reforms. According to India’s Space Policy, ISRO will focus primarily on research and development of new space technologies and applications, and on expanding human understanding of outer space.
The policy further states that ISRO shall carry out applied research and development of newer systems to maintain India’s edge in the sector in areas including space infrastructure, space transportation, space applications, capacity building and human spaceflight.
NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO, is responsible for enabling industry production of operational systems such as PSLV and SSLV, while IN-SPACe is responsible for promoting and authorising private-sector space activities.
The Space Policy also states that ISRO shall share technologies, products, processes and best practices with NGEs and/or Government companies.
The employee associations raised questions about the implications of the proposed transition for sanctioned strength, existing vacancies, the recruitment calendar and the induction of scientific, technical, administrative and industrial manpower across all ISRO centres.
The Isro Staff Association, SHAR Employees Association, ISAC Employees Association, Isro Staff Association-LPSC, Isro Staff Association-BBU, NRSA Employees Union, Space Employees Association-BBU, Isro Staff Association-IPRC and SAC Employees Welfare Association signed the letter, as per Hindustan Times.
The associations warned that some existing employees could become surplus, be reassigned to other roles or find themselves without meaningful work. They also expressed concern that fewer recruitments to Group A, B and C positions at ISRO could reduce career opportunities for young people.
The employee bodies said they were not against private-sector participation or legitimate commercialisation through NSIL, provided it operates within a defined framework. However, they said there was no official Department of Space policy document clearly distinguishing between facilitating private participation and dismantling ISRO’s in-house realisation capabilities.
They also sought clarification on whether Pawan Goenka’s remarks reflected official government policy. The associations questioned whether ISRO would continue to oversee the design, development, realisation, integration, testing and launch of the PSLV, LVM3, SSLV and their successor vehicles.
The questions come amid concerns over ISRO’s ability to retain experienced technical talent. Recently, more than a hundred of the agency’s most experienced technical minds, including professionals who decoded complex simulations for the historic Chandrayaan-3 moon landing and designed the heavy-lift LVM3 rockets, submitted their resignations or requests for voluntary retirement.
The quiet exodus has raised concerns within India’s scientific establishment, prompting the government to step in with an administrative firewall to halt the sudden loss of invaluable talent.
The motivations pulling these experienced professionals away from ISRO are multifaceted, combining financial realities, structural frustrations and career stagnation. For decades, working at ISRO was viewed as a lifelong commitment, but the modern aerospace landscape has evolved.
At the core of the issue is a disparity in compensation. ISRO scientists, classified as civil servants, are bound by government pay scales that pale in comparison to what the private market now offers for equivalent expertise. Beyond money, veteran scientists frequently point to the weight of public-sector bureaucracy.
ISRO’s transition is therefore not simply a question of whether private companies will manufacture rockets. It is also about what expertise remains inside the national space agency, how its workforce evolves and whether the organisation can retain the specialised talent needed for increasingly ambitious missions.
The employee associations are now seeking clarity on exactly where that boundary will lie, as India’s space sector moves towards a model in which private entities are expected to assume a larger role in manufacturing and commercial operations while ISRO focuses increasingly on research and development.
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