Editorial: Question mark over ISRO’s future

While the push for privatisation and technology transfers may strengthen industry, it could erode ISRO’s engineering capabilities

Over the decades, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has earned a global reputation for a series of successful missions. However, the recent policy shift to involve the private sector in many operations has raised concerns among its employees. The exodus of senior scientists and engineers has further raised questions over the future of the premier organisation. The private sector is no longer restricted to supplying components to ISRO. Under the new framework, private companies can potentially participate across the entire space value chain. They can design, develop and launch rockets. The most dramatic recent development was the July 2026 launch of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1, described as India’s first private orbital rocket. Private companies can now establish launch facilities and use ISRO infrastructure subject to authorisation and safety requirements. For example, Agnikul Cosmos has established a private launchpad and mission-control facility at Sriharikota. For nearly six decades, the space sector was entirely in the hands of the government. Every celebrated milestone, from Aryabhatta to Chandrayaan-3, every Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) that became the workhorse of global commercial launches, every Mars and Moon mission, bore the unmistakable signature of the Indian state. That monopoly is now a thing of the past. Understandably, ISRO employees have voiced concerns over the push for privatisation and its impact on their jobs. Nine employee bodies, comprising over 5,000 members, recently wrote to ISRO chairman V Narayanan, seeking clarification about the organisation’s future role.

The major concern is whether ISRO itself is gradually being reduced from an organisation that designs, builds and launches spacecraft and rockets to primarily an R&D agency. The Indian Space Policy 2023 clearly states that ISRO should “transition out” of manufacturing mature operational space systems and transfer them to industry for commercial exploitation, while concentrating on advanced R&D and new systems. There is no clarity on what this transition would mean for sanctioned posts, recruitment over the next 5-10 years and promotion prospects for the serving staff. The employees have demanded that the Department of Space define where private participation ends and what would happen to ISRO’s own capabilities. ISRO has also transferred SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) technology to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), while technology-transfer processes involving other launch vehicles are in progress. The government says private entities are now permitted to undertake end-to-end space activities. Technology transfer is perhaps the most consequential element for the employees. ISRO develops a technology, and once it becomes mature, NSIL (New Space India Limited), its commercial arm, can transfer it to industry for commercial production. It has so far signed 100 technology-transfer agreements with Indian industry, including the transfer of SSLV technology to HAL. Employees fear that if ISRO stops routinely designing and manufacturing launch vehicles, it could eventually lose precisely the engineering expertise that made it capable of developing the next generation of launchers.

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