The Department of Space has tightened resignation and voluntary retirement rules for scientists working on the Indian Space Research Organisation’s most important programmes after more than 100 personnel were reported to have left within months.
A memorandum issued on July 14 directs ISRO centres not to routinely approve exit requests from Group A scientific and technical staff associated with Gaganyaan and other projects of national importance. Such applications must now be forwarded to the Department of Space with clear recommendations from the directors of the centres concerned.
The directive marks a reversal of administrative powers granted in November 2020. Centre directors and unit heads had been authorised to approve resignations and voluntary retirement requests from scientific and technical personnel up to the Scientist/Engineer-SG level. Final authority over staff attached to critical programmes has now returned to the department.
The intervention follows estimates that between 100 and 120 scientists have left the organisation, although the Department of Space has not published an official figure. About 80 departures were reported from the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, while at least 20 were linked to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
Those establishments occupy central positions in the country’s space programme. The Bengaluru centre develops satellites and spacecraft systems, while the Thiruvananthapuram facility leads launch-vehicle development. Departures involving experienced personnel can therefore affect programmes whose specialised knowledge has been accumulated over many years.
The July 14 order said the volume of voluntary retirement and resignation requests from Group A scientific and technical employees was severely affecting the implementation of nationally important projects. Directors have been advised against clearing applications from personnel assigned to Gaganyaan and other priority missions until the work is completed.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan acknowledged that employees had left but said movement of personnel was normal in large organisations. He said the revised mechanism was intended not only to retain specialists but also to prevent important projects from suffering sudden disruption. Responsibilities would be reassigned where an employee remained determined to leave.
Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh also played down suggestions that the departures amounted to an organisational crisis, saying people had joined and left ISRO over the years. The tighter procedure, however, signals concern about losing scientists carrying knowledge that cannot be replaced merely by filling a vacancy.
Among those reported to have departed is Victor Joseph T, who served as project director for the LVM3 launch vehicle at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. LVM3 is the rocket selected to launch astronauts under Gaganyaan. Joseph was reported to have left in February after about 13 months in the leadership position.
Other departures were said to include personnel connected with the Space Docking Experiment and Chandrayaan-3. Aditya Rallapalli, who managed simulations for the lunar mission, led work involving more than 100,000 tests and nearly 25 terabytes of data used to validate the landing sequence.
The exits represent a small proportion of ISRO’s workforce of more than 14,600. Their significance lies in the concentration of departures at strategic centres and within complex missions, where scientists develop expertise through repeated testing, failures, redesigns and flight operations.
Attrition has affected the organisation during earlier periods. About 700 employees resigned between 2012 and 2024, while a high share of recruits hired between 2004 and 2007 also left. ISRO is recruiting for about 1,050 scientific, technical and administrative posts, alongside cadre changes that have regularised 466 project positions and created about 460 senior-grade posts.
Competition for space engineers has increased since the sector was opened more widely to private participation in 2020 and the national space policy was introduced in 2023. The country now has more than 400 registered space start-ups, with firms including Skyroot Aerospace, Agnikul Cosmos, Pixxel, Dhruva Space and Bellatrix Aerospace expanding their engineering teams.
Private companies can offer specialised roles, equity-linked compensation and faster career progression. ISRO offers the opportunity to work on strategic programmes, long-term institutional stability and access to major national infrastructure, but its government pay structure can make retention difficult for highly sought-after specialists.
The staffing pressure comes as ISRO prepares for Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-4, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station and further planetary missions. Gaganyaan aims to demonstrate an independent human spaceflight capability, requiring close coordination across launch vehicles, crew systems, propulsion, tracking, recovery and astronaut safety.
