The role of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was “by no means diminishing”, said IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka on Sunday (September 6, 2026), responding to a joint letter from nine ISRO employee associations seeking written clarification on whether the government intends to transfer the agency’s launch-vehicle and satellite manufacturing to private firms.

“ISRO will remain the bedrock of the Indian space sector,” Dr. Goenka said in a post on X, describing recent reporting as a “misleading narrative.”

The reforms begun in 2020, he said, were aimed at expanding India’s overall space ecosystem, with IN-SPACe authorising non-government participation and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) commercialising mature capabilities.

Industry would increasingly manufacture and scale mature launch vehicles and satellites, he added, while ISRO would concentrate on advanced R&D, scientific and strategic missions, and infrastructure too complex for private developers — including the Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035 and an Indian crewed lunar mission by 2040. “The direction is not a smaller ISRO,” he wrote.

His post was followed by a longer clarification from ISRO, calling suggestions of privatisation “completely baseless and incorrect” and stating that the agency would neither be privatised nor have its importance reduced. Transferring a mature technology, it said, did not amount to withdrawal from that domain; the shift was towards an “ISRO-led national space ecosystem”, institutionalised through the Indian Space Policy 2023.

The agency said India now has over 450 space startups against a handful in 2020, and aims to grow its roughly $8.4-billion space economy to $44 billion by 2033. Ownership of critical national space infrastructure, it said, would remain with the government.

The letter that prompted the responses was dated September 4 and addressed to Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, ISRO. Its signatories cited Dr. Goenka’s public remarks on August 21 that ISRO would eventually not make or manufacture any launch vehicles. They asked whether that position represented an approved Space Commission decision, what would happen to sanctioned strength and recruitment over the next five to ten years, and whether the associations would be consulted before irreversible decisions.

Employees of the Department of Space are exempted from the statutory definition of “industry” and cannot form trade unions. They instead organise as service associations recognised under the Central Civil Services (Recognition of Service Associations) Rules, 1993. The letter was copied to the Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers.

The letter was sent on the same day ISRO successfully launched its first Earth imaging satellite, the EOS-05, aboard the GSLV-F17 from Sriharikota. This was the first successful launch by ISRO this year after a series of setbacks.

The irony was evident: on the day the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had its greatest success of the year — the launch of its first geosynchronous imaging satellite (EOS-05) on a temperamental GSLV — its employee organisations demanded clarity on its long-term plans. But this grievance was long in the making. Since the Indian Space Policy of April 2023, the message has been clear that ISRO would, one day in the unspecified future, stop making commercial satellites and launch rockets. Clearly inspired by NASA, it expects to focus on ambitious exploratory missions and, literally, moonshots. Why would a space agency ramping up space missions upset a section of employees? This is not the paradox it presents. The letter, co-signed by nine employee associations, and addressed to the chairman, seeks clarity on staff-strength, recruitment and the outsourcing of core functions. ISRO says that it will “not be privatised or reduced”; IN-SPACe, set up to facilitate private participation, says the agency will “not be diminished”, only that the industry’s role must grow. Both are silent on the core concern — potential job losses. This brings up an underlying tension that ISRO must deal with: does its vision of India’s space sector align with its founding principles, of not being enamoured of space races and being laser-focused on space technology as a tool for social development? Or is the image of power, where India is one of a handful of space-faring countries with a mushrooming of ‘space startups’, now the bedrock of that vision?

With a budget 16 times the Department of Space’s — $24.4 billion against ₹13,705 crore — NASA too has scaled back since the 1960s: from 0.7% of American GDP in 1966 to 0.1% now, and from 36,000 civil servants at Apollo’s peak to about 14,000 today. Unlike NASA, which in its early years designed and made every nut and bolt, ISRO has always had a manufacturing relationship with the private sector (Walchandnagar, L&T). What is different is that the buzz is not about established companies building on experience but new entrants with fleeting foreign capital, most interested in satellite data as a service. No sector can hope to be static; survival can mean significant changes to how it operates. There is yet no serious reckoning with the might of China’s space programme. If India’s space sector in 2035 is to be known as a source of export earnings, a nucleus of value-added services that brings in jobs and absorbs skilled labour, then hard choices taken today may be worth it. But jumping onto a bandwagon of space — as fuel for the science fiction fantasy of billionaires and colonial notions of conquest, to align with some misplaced notion of an ‘exclusive’ club — is foolhardy. ISRO must have a transparent policy that spells this out.

Nine employee associations at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have written to the space agency’s Chairperson, V. Narayanan, seeking official clarification on the proposed transfer of its manufacturing and operational functions to private entities.

In a letter dated Friday (September 4, 2026), the associations also raised questions about the agency’s future role and the consequences for 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 said.

It 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.

Mr. Goenka, at a public event, reportedly said, “Eventually, ISRO will not make any launch vehicles and will not manufacture any launch vehicles. That will all be done by the private sector or PSU.”

The employee associations claimed that these remarks have not been 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 said.

It raised several other concerns. These include whether the design, development, realisation, integration, testing and launch of PSLV, LVM3, SSLV and successor vehicles will continue as ISRO functions or will cease.

Also, it asked about the implications of the proposed shift for sanctioned strength, existing vacancies, recruitment calendar, and induction of scientific/technical/administrative/industrial manpower in all ISRO centres.

Recent reports of nearly 120 scientists resigning from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have rightly raised concerns. ISRO has been a symbol of India’s scientific aspirations and such an exodus cannot be dismissed as an ordinary episode of employee turnover.

Resignations have occurred over the years but the scale of recent departures confronts us with the question: of why some of India’s brighter scientific minds are electing to leave institutions millions dream of joining.

From a small launch pad, the 715-kg Nike Apache rocket rose 208 km into the sky.

The sight fascinated thousands of people in the area, which even motivated some of them to join the Indian Space Research Organisation. The Nike Apache launch was an international effort under the United Nations.

The launch took place in the presence of legends such as Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme, E.V. Chitnis, P.D. Bhavsar, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam among others.

On February 22nd, 1969, India launched its first truly indigenous rocket.The rocket carried a few kilograms of solid propellants and rose a few kilometres into the air.

Vasant Gowariker, who later became the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, said it was “a pencil-sized rocket”.

On July 18th, 1980, India became part of a select club of nations to put their satellites into orbit using their own launch vehicles with its SLV-3 rocket launch.

Though ISRO has had its share of failures, today, India is an influential spacefaring nation.

Read the full story here.

Script: T.S Subramanian

Production and Voiceover: Yuvasree S

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have jointly signed an agreement on ‘ESA-ISRO Arrangement concerning Joint Calibration and Validation Activities and Scientific Studies for Earth Observation Missions’.

The agreement was signed on March 4 by M. Ganesh Pillai, scientific secretary, ISRO, and Simonetta Cheli, director, Earth Observation Programme, ESA, in a virtual meeting mode.

ISRO said that this event highlights the strength of the long-term cooperation in place since 1978 and subsequent renewal in 2002 between two globally significant space research organisations.

The signing ceremony was marked by spirited remarks from the dignitaries regarding the legacy as well as upcoming opportunities rendered possible by research and exploration platforms. Accomplishments in the field of Earth Observation, navigation, ground station support as well as human space flight were also referred to.

Ms. Cheli emphasised the timeliness of the arrangement, especially in the light of upcoming and innovative sensor FLEX, meant to understand the vegetation biology better as well as the need of setting up calibration and validation campaigns for subsequent valorisation.

Mr Pillai recalled the multi-themed cooperation with ESA in terms of ground station support for Chandrayaan, Aditya missions, support from ISRO’s Deep Space Antenna, Joint Statement of intent for Human Spaceflight, including discussion between Chairman, ISRO and DG, ESA and India-EU space Dialogue at Brussels.

He reflected on how upcoming missions will go a long way in helping the planet as well as people and the need for working closely in future and commended the contribution of ISRO members from EDPO, OIIC, Section-X,DOS for realising the agreement.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have jointly signed an agreement on ‘ESA-ISRO Arrangement concerning Joint Calibration and Validation Activities and Scientific Studies for Earth Observation Missions’.

The agreement was signed on March 4 by M. Ganesh Pillai, scientific secretary, ISRO, and Simonetta Cheli, director, Earth Observation Programme, ESA, in a virtual meeting mode.

ISRO said that this event highlights the strength of the long-term cooperation in place since 1978 and subsequent renewal in 2002 between two globally significant space research organisations.

The signing ceremony was marked by spirited remarks from the dignitaries regarding the legacy as well as upcoming opportunities rendered possible by research and exploration platforms. Accomplishments in the field of Earth Observation, navigation, ground station support as well as human space flight were also referred to.

Ms. Cheli emphasised the timeliness of the arrangement, especially in the light of upcoming and innovative sensor FLEX, meant to understand the vegetation biology better as well as the need of setting up calibration and validation campaigns for subsequent valorisation.

Mr Pillai recalled the multi-themed cooperation with ESA in terms of ground station support for Chandrayaan, Aditya missions, support from ISRO’s Deep Space Antenna, Joint Statement of intent for Human Spaceflight, including discussion between Chairman, ISRO and DG, ESA and India-EU space Dialogue at Brussels.

He reflected on how upcoming missions will go a long way in helping the planet as well as people and the need for working closely in future and commended the contribution of ISRO members from EDPO, OIIC, Section-X,DOS for realising the agreement.

A venerable institution, facing accusations of opacity, decided to stun its detractors with some transparency. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made public the report of a technical committee, constituted to analyse why the NVS-02 satellite, which was launched aboard a GSLV rocket on January 29, 2025, could not be placed in its intended orbit. Until this week, there was no official explanation why this had happened. An accompanying press statement — not a report it must be noted — surmised that an ‘apex’ committee had concluded that a signal meant to activate a key valve in the engine’s oxidiser line never reached it. This valve is crucial for firing the engine to raise the spacecraft’s orbit and this likely happened because at least one connection in the electrical connector — in both the primary and backup lines — came loose or failed, preventing the signal from getting through. All of this is useful information, but only for ISRO to be cautious in future missions. In fact, the press statement continued, these learnings were “successfully implemented” in a November 2, 2025 mission by the LVM-3 M5 launch vehicle that placed the GSAT-7R, India’s heaviest communication satellite, in its intended orbit. When the ISRO releases a statement on an event from a year ago, it must strive to illuminate rather than be seen to declassify under duress. It should have revealed whether the connection came loose because of an oversight; whether multiple levels of personnel — or machines — who scrutinise every nut and screw on the assembly line failed, or if a manufacturing anomaly had compounded over time in a way that would have escaped detection even by the most vigilant overseers.

At the other end, doing so reinforces public confidence in the institution. It should be able to reveal such information without blaming individuals or withholding proprietary or strategic information. Making such ‘Failure Analysis’ reports public, as they are called, used to be a routine affair. However, ISRO seems to have retreated into a shell following the back-to-back failures of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles in January and in May 2025. In fact, beyond the technical committees— another committee has been set up to probe “systemic issues” underlying the failures of these rockets — ISRO should not choose insularity at a time when traditional business models all over the world are being disrupted.

India’s first dedicated Space Astronomy Observatory, AstroSat completed a decade of operations on Sunday (September 28, 2025).  

Ten years ago, on September 28, 2015, the AstroSat was launched by PSLV-C30 (XL) rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota with a mission life of five years. Though the designed mission life of AstroSat was five years it continues to provide valuable data.

In the last decade, the multi wavelength space observatory with five payloads onboard has made major interesting discoveries.

Commemorating the milestone in a post on X, the Indian Space Research Organisation said, “On this day 10 years ago, AstroSat, India’s first multi wavelength astronomy observatory was launched by ISRO. From black holes to neutron stars, from the nearest star Proxima Centauri to first time detection of FUV photons from galaxies 9.3 billion light years away, AstroSat enabled groundbreaking insights across the electromagnetic spectrum from UV/Visible to high energy X-rays. Congratulating AstroSat for a successful decade and wishing many more years of exciting results and discoveries.”

Five payloads

AstroSat was designed to observe the universe in the Visible, Ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum simultaneously with the help of its five payloads.

The five scientific payloads onboard the satellite are Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC), Cadmium–Zinc–Telluride Imager (CZTI), Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) and Scanning Sky Monitor (SSM).

Astrosat was realised by ISRO with the participation of all major astronomy institutions including Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) of Pune, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) at Mumbai, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP) and Raman Research Institute (RRI) of Bengaluru as well as some of the universities in India and two institutions from Canada and the UK.