The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) was established in 2020 as an autonomous, single-window agency under the Department of Space (DOS), to promote and regulate private-sector participation in India’s space activities. It serves as an interface between ISRO and private entities, including industry and educational institutions, assessing their requirements and facilitating access to India’s space infrastructure and resources in consultation with ISRO. The idea was to establish a body that could enable ISRO to focus more closely on its core functions of research, development and advanced space technologies. IN-SPACe is meant to facilitate greater private-sector participation and the expansion of India’s space economy. Pawan Kumar Goenka who heads this organisation has recently made claims that ISRO is majorly transferring launch vehicle technology to the private sector and in future, various space launches would be undertaken by India’s private sector. As per Goenka, ISRO has already transferred 120 space technologies to the private sector. In an interview, he stressed that in the area of satellite manufacturing, ISRO’s focus would remain limited towards developing only scientific and other satellites. Also, the management of the under-progress new satellite launch centre at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu would be handed over to private agency. Goenka’s statement prompted several ISRO staff associations to write to chairman V. Narayanan, seeking clarification on the possible reduction of ISRO’s role in the space sector in the coming years. In response, the authorities have broadly clarified that any suggestion of reducing ISRO to merely an ornamental role is baseless and incorrect. India’s objective is to expand its overall space ecosystem, with the private sector playing a larger role in the future. However, this expansion need not come at the cost of ISRO’s role and capabilities. Against this backdrop, it is important to understand the emerging dynamics of India’s space sector, encompassing both public and private enterprises.Here are some facts1. India’s first privately-manufactured Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), built by a consortium of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), is expected to launch around March 2027. ISRO has transferred this technology so as to make private industry to undertake this activity. 2. The first launch of a rocket manufactured fully by HAL under the major ISRO Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology transfer is scheduled for September 2027. This would be launched from a new launch site in Tamil Nadu3. IN-SPACe has invited expressions of interest from qualified private Indian companies to take over the end-to-end operations and maintenance of the new Small-Satellite Launch Complex (SLC) at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu and the site is expiated to be operational to undertake the September 2027 launch of SSLV by HAL.4. The Indian space tech start-ups ecosystem is growing very rapidly. At present, India has around 450 space start-ups, with a critical mass of about 20 companies reaching mature production readiness.5. Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LMV-3) was previously known as the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III). IN-SPACe has invited expressions of interest from Indian companies or consortia for the technology transfer and commercialisation of ISRO’s LVM-3, marking a further step towards transferring operational launch activities to the private sector. The idea is to enable industry to independently manufacture and commercially operate the heavy-lift launcher. ISRO will provide infrastructure and technical handholding for up to 42 months or until two LVM-3 vehicles are realised and launched. Along with these, similar efforts for PSLV and the already completed SSLV technology transfer are underway. This could place most of India’s operational launch vehicles in private hands.6. “Under the present situation, ISRO has reached its limit on providing our services due to manpower limitations and we can’t scale up more than 3% market share. That’s why we need private players to get involved and that will also boost market share when they diversify into many services,” K. Sivan, ex-Chairman ISRO, said in 2020.7. K. Sivan had highlighted on some occasions about ISRO’s substantial dependence on private industry, noting that private firms manufacture nearly 75-80% of the components used in ISRO’s launch vehicles. This dependence became particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when disruptions at small and medium-sized industrial units in and around Bengaluru and Hyderabad affected ISRO’s supply chain and contributed to delays in launch activities.8. In India, space reforms are in place since 2020. Subsequently, they were institutionalised through the Indian Space Policy, 2023, and progressive liberalisation of the FDI policy. Now 100% automatic foreign investment in satellite manufacturing components, accelerating global private entries into the Indian market, has been permitted. The 2023 Policy attempts to provide distinctly defined roles for different agencies relating to space activities in India. The reality Various associations representing around 5,000 ISRO employees have expressed concern that proposals to shift routine rocket production of PSLV, LVM3 and SSLV and launch operations to private firms or public sector undertakings (PSUs) could reduce ISRO to a residual R&D organisation. As discussed in the earlier section, the direction towards transferring a larger share of commercial space activities to the Indian private sector had been evident for some time. So, the question, is whether present concerns have emerged too late, given that the direction of policy has been evident since 2023 or whether employees and their associations are over-interpreting Goenka’s articulation? The answer perhaps lies somewhere between these two positions.It would be incorrect to assume that, once the production of launch vehicles and satellites and associated launch activities are increasingly transferred to industry, the pattern of work within ISRO will remain unchanged. The likely consequence will be a significant reorientation of ISRO’s activities, manpower and institutional priorities.Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) GSLV-F17 rocket carrying EOS-05 satellite lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. Photo: PTI.In this respect, the DRDO model provides a useful comparison. DRDO primarily undertakes research, technology development, system design, prototyping and validation, while production of mature systems is increasingly undertaken by DPSUs and private industry through technology transfer, licensing and procurement arrangements. A similar evolution could occur within ISRO in some limited sense. Since 2020, it has been emphasised that production of launch vehicles, satellites and associated systems by private industry would help ISRO to concentrate on basic space research and development; after all, ISRO stands for ‘space research organisation’. For many years in the past, ISRO had integrated commercial activities with its core programmes, largely because the scale of commercial demand remained relatively limited.An appropriate assessment of ISRO’s evolving role must also consider the rapid transformation of the global space sector, particularly since 2015, when SpaceX began to significantly reshape the economics and scale of space activities. By the end of 2015, there were approximately 1,300 to 1,400 operational (active) satellites orbiting the Earth. The number of satellites and other objects being placed in orbit has increased dramatically since around 2018, marking a fundamental shift in the scale of space activity. The acceleration has been driven primarily by large LEO constellations, above all SpaceX’s Starlink. In 2019, fewer than 2,000 active satellites were in orbit; by September 2026 nearly 18,700 active satellites are there. It is important to recognise that this shift has significant implications too for global space industry. At present, space is moving from an era dominated by relatively few, expensive, individually developed satellites towards high-volume production, frequent launches and an expanding range of ground-segment and data-related services. So, if India is to compete effectively in the global space market and take advantage of its changing economics, it will need to undertake mid-course corrections to its space agenda and align its capabilities and priorities with this rapidly evolving environment. ISRO will need to walk a fine line between organisational restructuring and protecting employee interests to meet the demands of India’s evolving space ecosystem.Knowledge vacuumAre the concerns raised by ISRO employees logical? Understandably, job security is an important concern for ISRO employees. However, ISRO should address this issue not merely as an HR or employment matter, but as one with wider implications for the long-term strength of India’s space programme.As per available information, between 100 and 120 scientists resigned from ISRO in the months before the July 2026. Parliament has been told that more than 650 scientific and technical staff have left ISRO over the past five years, and that the organisation is currently short of more than 1,600 sanctioned posts. According to the department’s workforce data reported in July 2026, staff strength stands at 14,637 against a sanctioned 20,269. It is a reality that rocket scientists and highly skilled space engineers are not easy to replace. If ISRO is transferring technologies to the private sector, it should also anticipate that private companies may seek to attract some of its best talent, particularly those with specialised knowledge of technologies developed within ISRO. This talent movement is a natural consequence of creating a more competitive space industry, but it also underscores the need for ISRO to retain critical expertise and institutional knowledge. It is important for ISRO to draw lessons from the crisis experienced by Russia’s space sector, particularly in managing talent, institutional knowledge and generational transition. The retirement and loss of the Soviet-era generation of scientists, engineers and technicians exposed a deep structural weakness in Russia’s space programme. Following the collapse of the USSR in 1991, funding and wages declined sharply, triggering a brain drain and creating a ‘missing middle’ of experienced professionals between ageing veterans and younger recruits. For ISRO, as new projects and technologies increasingly move towards industry and experienced personnel retire or leave the organisation, there is a risk of creating a knowledge and expertise vacuum, particularly in technologies being transferred to the private sector. Any erosion of experienced technical leadership and the research-and-development base could contribute to technological stagnation, as the Russian space programme has demonstrated. The Russian experience highlights the strategic importance of maintaining a continuous talent pipeline. Therefore, ISRO needs to be concerned about a potential brain drain to the growing private space industry.ISRO’s core mandate is to develop and advance space technologies for the social, scientific and strategic benefit of the country. As the private sector assumes a greater role in the space domain, ISRO should certainly facilitate the development of a robust industrial ecosystem. However, there is an important distinction between ‘handholding’ and ‘spoon-feeding’. ISRO should enable industry to acquire capabilities and become independently competitive. The objective should be to build genuine industrial capacity without compromising or eroding ISRO’s core competencies.Beyond the rhetoricIt is often argued that ISRO and India’s private space sector should emulate the NASA–SpaceX model, with NASA focusing primarily on space science while companies such as SpaceX undertake satellite deployment, launch services and other commercial space activities. However, this comparison needs to be treated with caution simply because India’s private space sector is still in its nascent stage. By August 2026, SpaceX had conducted 100 orbital launches during the year. In India, Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-I did its first successful orbital test launch. India is yet to even have operational private launch capability.SpaceX has emerged as a major commercial space company after decades of substantial public investment including major support from NASA in every respect. It is important to recognise that NASA’s annual budget is more than 15 times larger than ISRO’s. They outsource may projects to Space X and others. But, ISRO has financial constraints and India’s private space sector is still in developing stage and has no capacity to undertake entire major programmes independently like Space X. More importantly, many of ISRO’s upcoming projects including Gaganyaan, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, future missions to Moon including a crewed lunar landing, Venus and Mars exploration, strategic projects related to national security and advanced launch vehicle development are expected to remain critical national missions. ISRO will therefore need to retain and apply its core expertise in designing, developing and managing such projects. The private sector could play a significant supporting and complementary role. However, such missions require secure supply chains, sustained public funding, national-level coordination, rigorous quality and safety assurance and specialised capabilities that currently reside mainly within ISRO. Therefore, the objective should not be to privatise ISRO, but to create a stronger partnership in which ISRO remains the nation’s principal research, technology-development and strategic space agency, while the private sector increasingly undertakes commercial and operational activities. In closing It is therefore welcome that ISRO’s staff associations have raised concerns not only about their own future but also about the future direction of the organisation. Such a debate is essential to ensure that the push towards commercialisation does not overshadow the larger strategic and technological objectives of India’s space programme. An organisation of the stature of ISRO has earned its reputation not through any sort of a ‘screwdriver’ technology, but by doing real rocket science under difficult circumstances and developing capabilities indigenously against considerable odds. ISRO’s employees should recognise that the organisation is entering a new phase in which their expertise is more important than ever. In many respects, ISRO needs its scientific and technical talent today more than its employees need ISRO.