New Delhi: The Department of Space has moved to restrict the outflow of scientific and technical staff from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), after reports that more than 100 personnel have quit or sought voluntary retirement over the past few months, several of them from missions considered central to the country’s space programme. This was revealed following an internal memo issued by the department on Tuesday.
The memo states that requests for voluntary retirement and resignation from Group A scientific and technical personnel “may not be accepted as a matter of routine” where the individuals concerned are attached to Gaganyaan or other important missions and projects. The memo notes that there has lately been a spate of such requests, including from staff associated with the crewed spaceflight programme.
Under the new instruction, any resignation or retirement request from scientific or technical staff, even those holding posts at or below the rank of scientist/engineer-SG, must now be routed to the department with a clear recommendation from the director of the concerned centre or head of unit before a final decision is taken. Officers at that grade typically carry around two decades of experience and often lead technical teams or mentor junior scientists, making their departure harder to absorb.
Isro’s chairman, V Narayanan, did not respond to media queries on the memo or the reasons behind the departures. TOI cited one official, speaking on condition of anonymity, cautioned that the organization and the wider department would do better to examine and address the underlying causes of the exits rather than simply making it harder for people to leave.
The exodus comes against the backdrop of a workforce that has long run below sanctioned strength. Data placed before Parliament in February showed Isro’s science and technology cadre had a sanctioned strength of 14,108 posts, of which only 12,472 were filled, leaving a shortfall of well over 1,600 positions even before the recent wave of exits. Several of the departures are understood to have come from the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, while a senior official associated with the LVM3 rocket programme took voluntary retirement in late 2025.
The staffing strain has coincided with a difficult run for Isro’s launch schedule. Both the PSLV-C61 and PSLV-C62 missions suffered failures in the third stage of the rocket, resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload on each occasion. Following the PSLV-C62 failure in January 2026, launch activity came to a halt, and the agency has yet to conduct a successful mission through the current financial year, against an internally stated target of thirteen launches between April 2026 and March 2027.
The personnel losses have also stirred debate within the organization over its long-term direction, at a time when IN-SPACe, the government body set up to promote private participation in space activities, has been working to transfer elements of Isro’s rocket technology to private industry. Some scientists see this as part of a broader restructuring of India’s space sector; others worry it adds to uncertainty over career paths within the state-run agency at precisely the moment it needs to retain experienced hands for Gaganyaan and the crewed missions that are meant to follow.