BENGALURU: The department of space (DoS) has stepped in to curb a recent wave of resignations from Isro’s flagship programmes, tightening rules on voluntary retirement and resignations by scientists working on Gaganyaan and other critical missions through a fresh internal memorandum dated July 14.While DoS hasn’t disclosed the scale of departures, multiple Isro sources told TOI that it was substantial enough — between 100 and 120 at least — to trigger the intervention. “Around 80 people have quit from URSC alone. At VSSC, at least 20 people have left. Overall, it could be roughly up to 120, conservatively. There could be more that are at the evaluation stage,” a source said.Another source said the departures included key personnel like LVM-3 project director Victor Joseph from VSSC. “SpaDeX project director quit from URSC. A very bright young person who was part of Chandrayaan-3 has also quit,” the source said.Isro chairman V Narayanan acknowledged the departures but said Isro was prepared to deal with it. “Yes, a lot of people go, but that’s part of every organisation. The move [memorandum] isn’t only to retain, but also to ensure that important projects don’t suffer all of a sudden. But if someone is still going, someone else will take responsibility. We’re taking care of it,” he told TOI.

Numbers small, projects big

Although recent departures represent a small fraction of Isro’s overall workforce of 14,600+, they have come from strategically important centres. URSC had 1,339 employees, while VSSC, Isro’s largest centre, had 4,577 at the end of last fiscal. The concern has been about losing people from key missions.For example, the Chandrayaan-3 scientist is Aditya Rallapalli, the mission’s project manager (simulations). He led the dedicated group that generated nearly 25 terabytes of data from over 1-lakh tests, an effort that proved critical to validating Moon landing sequence.The concern is reflected in the memorandum: “Of late, it is noticed that there has been a spate of requests for voluntary retirement and resignation from Group ‘A’ scientific/technical personnel including those associated with prestigious Gaganyaan and other important missions/projects severely impacting implementation of projects of national importance.”

Directors’ power reversed

It adds that resignation and voluntary retirement requests from scientists associated with Gaganyaan and other important missions “may not be accepted as a matter of routine”. Centre directors have been advised not to accept such requests until those projects are completed.Instead, all such cases must be referred to DoS, along with the director’s recommendations, for a final decision.The order reverses a key administrative change made in 2020. Under a memorandum issued on Nov 25, 2020, Isro centre directors and heads of units were empowered to accept voluntary retirement and resignation requests from Group A scientific and technical personnel up to scientist/engineer-SG level.That authority has now effectively been withdrawn for scientists attached to Gaganyaan and other major missions.

Attrition not new

Attrition isn’t new to Isro, nor can it be attributed solely to opportunities in the private space sector. Between 2004 and 2007, nearly half of the agency’s new recruits quit, as reported earlier by TOI. Official figures also show that around 700 employees resigned between 2012 and 2024.Isro’s 2025-26 annual report says recruitment for around 1,050 scientific, technical and administrative posts is at an advanced stage, while a cadre review approved last year has regularised 466 project posts and created about 460 higher-grade positions.The latest DoS order, however, suggests that replacing experienced scientists working on national missions is not as straightforward as filling vacancies.