BENGALURU: Even as the Department of Space (DoS) tightens exit rules to stem a recent spate of voluntary retirements and resignations by scientists working on flagship missions, it is confronting a deeper structural challenge: a widening manpower shortage across India’s space programme.
An analysis of DoS employment data by TOI shows that nearly three out of every 10 sanctioned posts were vacant at the end of 2025-26, marking the department’s highest vacancy rate in at least 25 years. Against a sanctioned strength of 20,269 posts, DoS had only 14,637 employees, leaving 5,632 positions unfilled and a staffing level of just 72.2%.
The figures also highlight a long-term decline in manpower. The department employed 14,847 people in 2001-02—more than it does today—even though its sanctioned strength then was only 16,423 posts, translating to a vacancy rate of less than 10%.
The staffing gap has widened steadily over the past six years. In 2019-20, DoS had 17,222 employees against a sanctioned strength of 20,039, giving it a staffing level of nearly 86%. Since then, sanctioned posts have remained virtually unchanged, but employee strength has fallen by almost 2,600. Staffing slipped each year, touching a low of 71.7% in 2024-25 before edging up marginally to 72.2% in 2025-26.
The trend indicates that the manpower crunch predates the recent wave of resignations that prompted the department to issue a July 14 office memorandum tightening conditions for voluntary retirement and resignation.
The vacancies are particularly significant because scientific and technical personnel account for roughly three-fourths of the department’s workforce. The shortfall therefore disproportionately affects engineers, scientists and technical specialists responsible for developing satellites, launch vehicles and deep-space missions.
The decline has come at a time when India’s space programme is expanding rapidly. Isro is preparing for its first human spaceflight under the Gaganyaan mission, pursuing long-term plans for a crewed lunar mission and an Indian space station, while simultaneously developing the Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), a partially reusable heavy-lift rocket. Missions to Venus and a second Mars mission are also in various stages of planning. Alongside these ambitions, Isro continues to shoulder the country’s strategic space requirements, with the private space sector still in its early stages.
The issue has also drawn parliamentary attention. Responding to a Parliamentary panel that sought reasons for the large number of vacancies and measures to address them, the DoS attributed the shortfall to “cascading effects since 2020-21 arising from Covid-19 restrictions, the implementation of sectoral reforms, and the adoption of more stringent and foolproof recruitment procedures.”
According to the department, recruitment could resume only after October 2023, creating a gap of nearly two to three years in hiring.
DoS said recruitment has already begun for 1,449 posts, with appointments expected to be completed by October 2026. Another 933 posts are slated to be filled by December 2026. The remaining vacancies include erstwhile Group D posts and positions that will be filled after implementation of the second cadre review.
The data underscores the scale of the challenge before the department: rebuilding a workforce that has steadily shrunk over the past several years while retaining experienced scientists whose expertise is critical for some of India’s most complex and strategically important space missions.
