BENGALURU: The Department of Space (DoS) has introduced stricter rules governing resignations and voluntary retirements of scientists working on ISRO’s flagship missions, following a significant rise in departures from critical programmes such as Gaganyaan.
According to an internal memorandum issued on July 14, scientists and technical personnel associated with major national missions will no longer have their resignation or voluntary retirement requests routinely approved. Instead, all such cases must be referred to the DoS for final approval after recommendations from respective centre directors.
While the department has not officially disclosed the number of resignations, multiple ISRO sources estimate that between 100 and 120 scientists have left in recent months. Around 80 departures reportedly came from the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), while at least 20 scientists exited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
Sources also indicated that several experienced personnel have resigned, including LVM-3 Project Director Victor Joseph, the SpaDeX Project Director, and Aditya Rallapalli, Chandrayaan-3’s Project Manager (Simulations), who led the team responsible for generating extensive simulation data that played a crucial role in validating the mission’s lunar landing sequence.
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan acknowledged the recent exits but maintained that the organisation is equipped to manage the transition.
“People leaving is part of every organisation. The objective of the memorandum is not only to retain talent but also to ensure that important national missions are not disrupted unexpectedly. If one person leaves, another will take responsibility,” he said.
National Missions Under Focus
Although the departures represent only a small portion of ISRO’s workforce of more than 14,600 employees, many of those leaving were associated with strategically important centres and projects.
The DoS memorandum notes that the recent “spate” of resignation and voluntary retirement requests from Group A scientific and technical personnel has the potential to severely impact projects of national importance, particularly Gaganyaan and other high-priority missions.
Approval Process Centralised
The new directive also reverses an administrative change introduced in 2020, which had allowed ISRO centre directors to independently approve resignations and voluntary retirements of scientific personnel up to the Scientist/Engineer-SG level.
Under the revised policy, directors have been instructed not to approve exit requests from scientists working on key missions until those projects are completed. Instead, every request must now be forwarded to the Department of Space for a final decision.
Attrition Remains a Long-Term Challenge
Employee attrition is not a new issue for ISRO. Official figures indicate that around 700 employees resigned between 2012 and 2024, while earlier reports showed that nearly half of the agency’s new recruits left between 2004 and 2007.
To strengthen its workforce, ISRO’s 2025–26 Annual Report states that recruitment for approximately 1,050 scientific, technical and administrative positions is at an advanced stage. Additionally, a recently approved cadre review has regularised 466 project posts and created around 460 higher-grade positions.
However, the latest DoS directive underscores that replacing experienced scientists involved in complex national missions is far more challenging than simply filling vacant positions.
