ISRO, DON’T HOLD BACK THOSE BRILLIANT MINDS

It is true that nearly a hundred scientists and engineers have left ISRO, either through voluntary retirement or resignation. Such a sudden loss of experienced manpower is undoubtedly a matter of concern. Any organisation would wish to discourage such an exodus through better incentives, greater professional freedom, and reduced bureaucratic interference—the inevitable companion of government service.

Yet there is another side to the story.

Those young men and women did not leave ISRO hoping to join NASA or Roscosmos. Most left to establish space ventures of their own or to join colleagues who had already embarked on that journey. That distinction is important.

ISRO’s 2025 report shows that, of its approximately 12,900 scientific, engineering and technical personnel spread across at least ten centres in India, only about two per cent of its scientists and engineers are IIT graduates. This is surprising, considering that the IITs were pioneers in introducing aerospace and aeronautical engineering in India. By contrast, among the founders of nearly thirty new Indian space ventures, I could identify at least fifteen graduates of the IITs, besides alumni of IIT Madras, BITS Pilani, NITs and other prestigious institutions.

Naturally, such a migration is bound to deprive ISRO—particularly its centres at Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and elsewhere—of some of its most skilled engineers, researchers and supervisors.

Whether this turnover will delay the Gaganyaan programme remains to be seen. The project aims to demonstrate India’s human spaceflight capability by sending a crew of three into a 400-km orbit for a three-day mission before bringing them safely back to Earth, with a splashdown in Indian waters. Compared with what the United States and the Soviet Union achieved decades ago, and what China accomplished a little more than two decades ago, it is not an extravagant ambition. Yet it is an important milestone, and India should fulfil this tryst with its destiny sooner rather than later.

The New Space Race: India’s Private Pioneers

In April 2024, the Tata Group launched its TSAT-1A satellite from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This military-grade Earth-observation satellite was one of several payloads carried into orbit by SpaceX aboard its Bandwagon-1 mission. Elon Musk may not know that, as early as 15 February 2017, ISRO’s PSLV-C37 launch vehicle  successfully placed 104 satellites into orbit in a single mission—a world record at the time. There is little doubt, however, that Musk’s spectacular success in private spaceflight has inspired many young Indian engineers to pursue similar dreams.
As I write this (18 July 2026), Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace, founded by former ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharat Daka, has emerged as one of India’s foremost private launch companies. A successful orbital launch vehicle is far more complex than the satellite it carries. Once placed in its designated orbit, a satellite usually requires only periodic commands from the ground. The launch vehicle, on the other hand, must function flawlessly through every stage of ascent before placing its payload into precisely the intended orbit.

Skyroot’s achievements demonstrate that India’s young engineers are far more than enthusiastic adventurers. I look forward to the day when one of these companies succeeds in developing a reusable launch vehicle capable of flying repeatedly, much as commercial aircraft do today.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group has also entered the satellite sector through investments in cutting-edge space technologies and satellite communications. Its long-term vision appears to include satellite-based communication services that complement terrestrial networks and strengthen India’s digital infrastructure. Low-Earth-orbit constellations promise communication with almost imperceptible delay, making voice and data transmission nearly as seamless as face-to-face conversation.

Anand Mahindra, the technologist and ever-witty commentator on social media, has backed Agnikul Cosmos, which designs and manufactures orbital-class launch vehicles powered by 3D-printed engines. The company aims to customise launch vehicles according to a customer’s payload and mission requirements and to manufacture them within weeks rather than months.

The concept of a customised, miniaturised launch vehicle is as innovative, in its own way, as India’s ubiquitous autorickshaw—compact, economical and purpose-built. If such launchers eventually become reusable, this approach could transform access to space for universities, research institutions and private industry alike.

Bellatrix Aerospace, founded by Rohan Ganapathy and Yashas Karanam, is developing advanced propulsion systems and other technologies for in-space mobility. Its focus is not merely on reaching orbit but on enabling spacecraft to manoeuvre efficiently once they are there.

There need be no unhealthy rivalry between these new ventures and ISRO. Even if private companies design and manufacture their own satellites and launch vehicles, they will continue to depend on ISRO’s launch infrastructure and decades of accumulated expertise. The relationship is far more likely to be complementary than competitive. Encouragingly, many of these ventures enjoy strong backing from leading industrial groups, while several have attracted enthusiastic investor interest despite uncertain market conditions.

If ISRO’s own human spaceflight programme is delayed by a few years because some of its brightest minds have ventured into private enterprise, so be it. After all, we waited more than seventy years after Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight before attempting to send an Indian into space aboard an Indian spacecraft. If the delay helps create a vigorous and globally competitive private space industry, history may well judge it a price worth paying.