Over 100 scientists from Gaganyaan, key projects quit, Centre tightens exit rules: What’s happening at ISRO?
The Department of Space (DoS) has tightened rules governing voluntary retirement and resignations of scientists working on ISRO’s flagship programmes, including the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, following a recent wave of departures from key centres. A fresh internal memorandum issued on July 14 directs that resignation and voluntary retirement requests from scientists associated with critical national missions should no longer be processed routinely.
While the Department of Space has not officially disclosed the scale of the resignations, The Times of India, citing sources, reported that between 100 and 120 scientists may have resigned in recent months. The departures include personnel from some of Isro’s most strategically important centres, raising concerns about the continuity of major space projects.
What is happening at ISRO?
The internal memorandum notes that there has been a “spate” of requests for voluntary retirement and resignation from Group ‘A’ scientific and technical personnel, including those working on the prestigious Gaganyaan mission and other projects of national importance. According to the order, such requests “may not be accepted as a matter of routine” as they could severely impact the implementation of critical missions.
Under the new rules, directors of ISRO centres have been instructed not to accept resignation or voluntary retirement requests from scientists involved in major missions until those projects are completed. Instead, every case must be forwarded to the Department of Space along with the centre director’s recommendations for a final decision.
ISRO projects from which scientists have quit
According to TOI, around 80 scientists have resigned from the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), while at least 20 have left the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). Sources estimate the total number of departures across Isro at around 120, with more cases still under evaluation.
Among those who have reportedly resigned are LVM-3 project director Victor Joseph from VSSC, the SpaDeX project director from URSC, and Aditya Rallapalli, Chandrayaan-3’s project manager (simulations), who played a key role in validating the Moon landing sequence by leading simulations that generated nearly 25 terabytes of mission data through over one lakh tests.
ISRO’s response
ISRO chairman V Narayanan acknowledged the resignations but said the organisation was equipped to manage the situation.
He admitted a lot of people have left and that it happens in every organisation.
“The move isn’t only to retain, but also to ensure that important projects don’t suffer all of a sudden. But if someone is still going, someone else will take responsibility. We’re taking care of it,” he told TOI.
Although the reported departures represent a small share of Isro’s workforce of over 14,600 employees, they are concentrated in strategically important centres. At the end of the last financial year, URSC had 1,339 employees, while VSSC, Isro’s largest centre, had 4,577.
Administrative powers rolled back
The July 14 memorandum also reverses an administrative relaxation introduced in November 2020. Earlier, directors of Isro centres and heads of units had the authority to approve voluntary retirement and resignation requests from Group ‘A’ scientific and technical personnel up to the Scientist/Engineer-SG level.
That authority has now effectively been withdrawn for scientists associated with Gaganyaan and other critical missions, with the Department of Space taking over the final decision-making process.
Employee attrition is not new to Isro and predates the rise of India’s private space sector. Between 2004 and 2007, nearly half of the agency’s new recruits reportedly resigned. Official data also shows that around 700 employees left the organisation between 2012 and 2024.
To address staffing requirements, Isro’s 2025-26 annual report says recruitment for around 1,050 scientific, technical and administrative posts is at an advanced stage. The agency has also implemented a cadre review that regularised 466 project posts and created about 460 higher-grade positions to strengthen its workforce.
