Departement of space moves to stem exodus from key Isro missions; at least 100 quit in past few months: Sources

India's Department of Space issued a July 14 internal memorandum tightening rules on resignations and voluntary retirement for scientists on key Isro missions like Gaganyaan.

The move reverses a 2020 decision that empowered centre directors to accept resignations; now central directors must refer all such requests to DoS.

Approximately 100-120 scientists have quit in recent months, including LVM-3 project director Victor Joseph and SpaDeX project director from URSC, and Chandrayaan-3 project manager Aditya Rallapalli.

Departures have hit strategically important centres like URSC (1,339 employees) and VSSC (4,577 employees), which are critical for flagship projects.

Isro chairman V Narayanan acknowledged departures but said the memorandum aims to ensure important projects don't suffer suddenly, and Isro is prepared to manage the situation.