Employee associations at the Indian Space Research Organisation have asked the government for written safeguards on jobs and core capabilities as private companies take on a larger role across India’s space sector.
The Joint Action Council, which represents ISRO staff associations, said it supports greater participation by Indian companies, public sector undertakings and start-ups, but wants the agency to keep its core research, development and launch capabilities in-house. The body sought specific protection for the LVM3 heavy-lift rocket and the Next Generation Launch Vehicle, arguing that ISRO should retain the full chain from research and production to integration, testing and launch.
The concerns build on a joint representation dated 4 September, sent by nine employee associations to the Department of Space Secretary and ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan, hours after the GSLV F17 EOS-05 launch. The associations asked for a time-bound clarification on whether launch vehicles such as PSLV, LVM3 and SSLV will remain ISRO functions, and sought safeguards against adverse cadre reviews and erosion of promotional avenues.
The letter followed remarks by IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka at an industry summit on 21 August. “Eventually, ISRO will not make any launch vehicles and will not manufacture any launch vehicles. That will all be done by the private sector or PSU,” he was quoted as saying.
The associations set out where they draw the line. “Private participation in defined commercial activities can coexist with strong, publicly owned ISRO. What cannot be accepted without debate is a policy that reduces ISRO to a residual R&D boutique while the realisation of the nation’s launch vehicles and the operation of its launch infrastructure pass out of public hands,” their representation stated.
ISRO has rejected reports of privatisation as “completely baseless and incorrect”, saying its role is being expanded rather than reduced. “What is changing is not the importance of ISRO, but the scale and structure of India’s space ecosystem,” the agency said, describing the emerging model as an “ISRO-led national space ecosystem”.
