Privatisation push: ISRO staff unions write to chief, ask whether core work will be phased out

Key employee associations representing thousands of workers at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have written to the agency’s chief, Dr V Narayanan, demanding clear answers on how far the government’s privatisation drive will go.

The formal letter was delivered on Friday, September 4, just hours after the agency broke a months-long launch hiatus with a flawless lift-off of an earth observation satellite aboard its GSLV rocket. The successful mission brought joy. But it also threw the agency's internal identity crisis into sharp relief.

Nine major staff unions representing around 5,000 employees—more than a quarter of ISRO’s total workforce—have signed the joint appeal. They are seeking written confirmation on whether the state intends to phase out the agency’s core engineering and manufacturing divisions.

Fears over shrinking core roles

The panic stems from recent comments by Pawan Goenka, the chief of space regulator IN-SPACe. He declared that ISRO would eventually stop making rockets and routine satellites. Instead, private firms would build them.

While the government has already transferred several light-launcher technologies to private firms, staff argue that building rockets is not a simple assembly job. They argue it requires decades of institutional memory, specialized safety skills, and testing expertise that cannot easily be duplicated.

Importantly, the staff unions clarify that they are not against private firms entering the Indian space sector. Instead, they are asking the government to draw a firm line between helping private firms grow and dismantling ISRO’s own capabilities. Without a clear roadmap, workers fear they will be left with less work, fewer promotions, and that young Indian graduates will lose the chance to pursue a prestigious public career.

A question of national autonomy

The dispute has sparked a wider national debate on what India's space program should look like. Experts warn that while outsourcing routine work is necessary for India to capture a larger global market share, the agency must not lose its launching independence.

Some analysts caution against copying the American model, where NASA has become entirely dependent on private firms like SpaceX. They argue that ISRO must maintain the capability to launch its own strategic satellites to protect India’s national interests. With no formal policy currently explaining where state responsibility ends and private business begins, thousands of space employees are left waiting for answers.