ISRO is ‘not shrinking’, says IN-SPACE chairman

Nine employee associations at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have written to the space agency’s chairman V Narayanan for an official explanation of the proposed transfer of its manufacturing and operational functions to private entities. File | Photo credit: Reuters

The role of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has “not diminished in any way”, IN-SPACE chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka said on Sunday (06 September 2026) in response to a joint letter by nine ISRO employee associations seeking a written explanation on whether the government intends to transfer the production of the agency’s launch vehicles and satellites to private firms.

“ISRO will remain the backbone of India’s space sector,” said Dr. Goenka in a post on X and described the recent coverage as a “misleading story.”

The reforms launched in 2020, he said, were aimed at expanding India’s overall space ecosystem, with IN-SPACE allowing non-governmental participation and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) commercializing advanced capabilities.

Industry would increasingly build and scale advanced launch vehicles and satellites, he added, while ISRO would focus on advanced research and development, science and strategic missions and infrastructure too complex for private developers — including the Bharatiya Antariksh station by 2035 and an Indian manned lunar mission by 2040. “The direction is not a smaller ISRO,” he wrote.

His post was followed by a lengthy clarification from ISRO, calling the privatization proposals “totally baseless and incorrect” and saying that the agency would neither be privatized nor downgraded. According to her, the transfer of advanced technology was not tantamount to withdrawal from that domain; the shift was towards an “ISRO-led National Space Ecosystem”, institutionalized through India’s Space Policy 2023.

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

The letter that prompted the responses was dated September 4 and addressed to Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary, Ministry of Space and Chairman, ISRO. Its signatories cited the public remarks of Dr. Goenka on August 21 that ISRO will not ultimately build or manufacture any launch vehicles. They asked whether the position represented an approved decision by the Space Commission, what would happen to the approved force and recruitment over the next five to 10 years, and whether associations would be consulted before making irreversible decisions.

Space Department employees are exempt from the statutory definition of “industry” and cannot form unions. Instead, they organize themselves as service associations recognized 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, EOS-05, aboard GSLV-F17 from Sriharikota. This was ISRO’s first successful launch this year after a series of failures.

Published – 6 Sep 2026 12:25 PM IST