New Delhi: Nine employee associations at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have written to the space agency’s chairperson, V Narayanan, seeking an official clarification on the proposed transfer of its manufacturing and operational functions to private entities.
In a letter dated September 4, the associations have also raised questions about the agency’s future role, the consequences for the serving employees and future recruitment.
“Private participation in defined commercial activities can coexist with a strong, publicly-owned ISRO. What cannot be accepted without debate is a policy that reduces ISRO to a residual R&D (research and development) boutique, while the realisation of the nation’s launch vehicles and the operation of its launch infrastructure pass out of public hands,” the letter has said.
It has pointed to the August 21 comments made by Pawan Goenka, chairperson of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), which promotes, enables, authorises and supervises various space activities of non-governmental entities.
Goenka, at a public event, reportedly said, “Eventually, ISRO will not make any launch vehicles and not manufacture any launch vehicles. That will all be done by the private sector or PSUs.”
The employee associations have said these remarks were not accompanied by any corresponding official communication from the Department of Space, explaining the approved policy, its legal and administrative basis, its phasing or its consequences for the existing workforce and future public recruitment.
“Technology developed by ISRO is a national asset. Its transfer must be transparent, accountable and consistent with strategic, safety and employment considerations — not presented to employees through newspaper reports,” the letter has said.
It has raised several other concerns, including whether the design, development, realisation, integration, testing and launch of PSLV, LVM3, SSLV and successor vehicles will continue as ISRO functions or cease.
Also, it has asked about the implications of the proposed shift for the sanctioned strength, existing vacancies, the recruitment calendar and the induction of scientific, technical, administrative and industrial manpower at all ISRO centres.
In a series of posts on X on Sunday, Goenka said the ISRO and private companies would have to work together to ensure that India reaches its target of 50 launches a year by 2030.
“A goal of this scale cannot be achieved by one organisation alone,” he said.
The INSPACe chairperson highlighted that the idea is to let industry increasingly manufacture and scale mature launch vehicles, satellites and other systems. Meanwhile, the ISRO would focus on advanced, scientific missions, strategic missions, new technologies and infrastructure that is too complex for the private sector to develop on its own.
“ISRO will remain at the core of India’s space programme, leading frontier research and the next generation of national missions. The direction is not a smaller ISRO. It is a larger Indian space ecosystem, with ISRO pushing the technological frontier,” Goenka added.
