Mass Resignations Hit ISRO: Over 100 Scientists Quit Flagship Missions Like Gaganyaan

Mass Resignations Hit ISRO: Over 100 Scientists Quit Flagship Missions Like Gaganyaan

The Department of Space (DoS) has actively stepped in to curb a major wave of resignations and voluntary retirements targeting the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) flagship national programs.

An internal memorandum issued on July 14, 2026, reveals a coordinated effort to stop an exodus that is directly impacting critical projects.

The Core Details:

  • The Scale: Multiple ISRO sources indicate that between 100 and 120 Group 'A' scientific and technical personnel have resigned in recent months.

  • Affected Centers: The departures are heavily concentrated at key strategic hubs. Around 80 personnel have quit the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) and at least 20 have left the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

  • High-Profile Exits: The departures include vital, experienced leads such as the LVM-3 project director (Victor Joseph), the SpaDeX project director, and key simulation managers who were critical to validating the Chandrayaan-3 landing sequence.

  • Impacted Missions: The DoS specifically flagged that these vacancies are "severely impacting implementation" of prestigious national programs, most notably the upcoming crewed Gaganyaan mission.

The Government's Response:

To halt the drain, the DoS has withdrawn administrative authority from ISRO center directors. Under a 2020 rule, center directors could routinely accept resignations up to the Scientist/Engineer-SG level. Now, any exit or voluntary retirement request from a scientist attached to Gaganyaan or other primary missions cannot be accepted routinely and must be forwarded directly to the DoS with the director's specific recommendation for a final decision.

While ISRO's leadership noted that attrition is normal and contingency handovers are being managed, the strictness of the DoS intervention reflects the difficulty of replacing highly specialized aerospace talent mid-mission.

The Deeper Details

Here are the deeper details and background contexts surrounding the memorandum issued by S.R. Rajashekar, Joint Secretary (Personnel) at the Department of Space (DoS):

1. The Named Scientists Who Left

The specific identities of the high-profile scientists who left give a clear picture of how deeply this hits ISRO's leadership layer:

  • Victor Joseph: The project director for the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). The LVM-3 is India's heaviest rocket and the exact launch vehicle designated to carry the crewed Gaganyaan capsule into orbit.

  • Aditya Rallapalli: The project manager for simulations at the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC). He famously led the simulation team that generated nearly 25 terabytes of data across more than one lakh (100,000) tests to validate the complex autonomous landing sequence for Chandrayaan-3.

  • The SpaDeX Project Director: The lead engineer running India's Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), which is foundational for building India's future space station (Bhartiya Antariksha Station).

2. The Private Space Sector Boom as a Catalyst

A major factor driving these exits is the rapid expansion of India's private space technology sector.

  • The government has recently begun awarding major satellite constellation contracts directly to private consortia.

  • ISRO is actively transferring its legacy launch vehicle technologies to private industries via commercial bids.

  • This privatization has created massive demand—and highly lucrative, flexible corporate offers—for seasoned aerospace veterans who know how to navigate complex mission architectures.

3. Deeper Internal Friction & Pre-Existing Talent Crunch

According to internal sources and former ISRO officials, administrative restrictions may not solve the root issues:

  • Workplace Pressure: Some insiders point toward work-related stress and internal management friction forcing senior personnel into voluntary retirement.

  • Existing Manpower Crunch: Before this memorandum, ISRO had already quietly curtailed inter-centre and mutual transfers to keep staff in place. An anonymous official noted that fresh hiring has slowed, stating, "There is a manpower crunch and the shop floor is run somehow with staff shortage."

  • Criticism from Former Leadership: Former senior space officials have criticized the public nature of the DoS circular, warning that forcing scientists to stay via administrative mandates could severely damage internal morale.

4. Historical Context: Attrition Isn't New

While this specific intervention is unprecedentedly strict, ISRO has historically fought talent retention battles:

  • Between 2004 and 2007, an astonishing 50% of all new ISRO recruits resigned within their first few years.

  • Between 2012 and 2024, approximately 700 employees resigned from the organization.

  • ISRO's 2025–26 annual report does note that they are in advanced stages of recruiting roughly 1,050 new scientific, technical, and administrative posts to bridge gaps, alongside regularizing 466 project posts. However, as the new DoS directive emphasizes, you cannot easily replace a decades-experienced project director mid-flight with a fresh recruit.

  • (Image not real)

Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India

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