The successful launch of India’s first privately developed rocket, Vikram-1, marks a major milestone for the country’s expanding private space sector. Ironically, this success comes when the government-led space programme is grappling with a severe talent shortage.
The Department of Space, which manages the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is besieged with its highest vacancy rate in 25 years — of the 20,269 sanctioned posts, 5,632 — nearly 28 per cent — are lying vacant. At the same time, more than 120 senior ISRO scientists and technical personnel have resigned or taken voluntary retirement.
Growing opportunities in the private space sector offer better financial incentives, greater autonomy and faster career progression. Today, India even has several institutions offering degrees in aerospace engineering; however, startups require a skilled and experienced workforce. They are, therefore, undoubtedly attracting some experienced ISRO scientists. Meanwhile, delays in recruitment and the persistence of vacant positions risk increasing the workload for the existing staff.
But ISRO continues to pursue a wide range of ambitious missions simultaneously. The public and policy debates on the relevance of these missions, however, are severely inadequate. Greater transparency regarding expert consultations in shaping ISRO’s long-term roadmap is needed. While India should certainly draw lessons from successful international space programmes, ISRO’s future must ultimately be guided by a careful assessment of India’s socioeconomic and strategic requirements.
ISRO’s hand behind Skyroot success
It is important to realise that ISRO remains the country’s premier space organisation. What Hyderabad-based Indian unicorn Skyroot Aerospace achieved earlier this month was first achieved by ISRO on 18 July 1980, with the launch of the Rohini Satellite RS-1. The recent failures of ISRO’s two consecutive PSLV missions (ISRO’s most reliable workhorse) are undoubtedly disappointing. However, mission failures and setbacks are not uncommon in the global space industry.
Space remains one of the most technologically challenging domains to master. But ISRO continues to lead several important programmes, including the next-generation launch vehicle, the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, lunar and Venus exploration missions and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station.
Today, ISRO’s mandate is enormous, even as India’s private space sector slowly evolves. The country currently has only one space-tech unicorn, and most start-ups are in the early stages of developing commercially viable products and services. There is no comparison between ISRO and the start-ups. Their objectives, responsibilities and measures of success are fundamentally different. ISRO is a national institution, while private companies are primarily focused on making the most of market opportunities.
One of the most important reasons for the progress of India’s private space sector is the maturity of the space ecosystem created by ISRO in the country. The success of Vikram-1 should not be viewed solely as an outcome of Skyroot Aerospace’s efforts. It also reflects the support extended by ISRO, which has actively nurtured the private space ecosystem in the country by offering test facilities, providing access to its launch infrastructure (including the launch pad), as well as telemetry, tracking and other mission support services.
Over the past few years, the space agency has adopted a policy of gradually transferring launch vehicle production and operations to industry. They are sharing technologies associated with the PSLV, SSLV and LVM3 launch vehicle systems with Indian start-ups. It is only natural that the industry would then require a highly skilled workforce to absorb these technologies and undertake such complex projects. Obviously, the industry may not have any other option than poaching ISRO.
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A possible alternative
The larger question now is whether ISRO needs to undertake any midcourse correction. India’s private space sector is expected to mature rapidly. So, the time has come to think about India’s future space agenda as a combined output of ISRO and the private sector. With these new settings, it is important to ask whether ISRO should continue to devote a significant portion of its resources to activities that the private sector is now increasingly capable of undertaking. Or should ISRO reposition itself to address some other important priorities for the country?
India faces a complex web of overlapping external and internal security challenges that require a multidimensional strategic response. Operation Sindoor provided a timely reminder of the growing importance of space capabilities in modern warfare. The conflict demonstrated that real-time satellite imagery, secure communications, timely weather inputs, precision navigation and space-based intelligence have become indispensable for military operations. Yet India had to rely, at least in part, on commercial satellite imagery from foreign providers such as Maxar because of the limited availability of indigenous technology. Likewise, the country’s regional navigation system, NavIC, has yet to evolve into a robust structure. These gaps suggest that India’s space priorities must increasingly be driven by national security considerations alongside commercial ambitions.
One factor hampering ISRO’s continuing momentum appears to be the lack of continuity in some of its flagship missions. Following the remarkable success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, there has been little clarity regarding a follow-up Mars mission, while attention has increasingly shifted towards the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission. This raises an important strategic question: was it necessary to prioritise human spaceflight at this stage, or would it have been more prudent to first consolidate and address pressing strategic and national security space requirements? Human spaceflight and space stations would undoubtedly be important technological milestones, but such projects can wait and priority should be given to strategic projects of military requirements.
On 14 August 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Mission Sudarshan Chakra, an ambitious indigenous initiative to build a multi-layered national defence shield against emerging threats such as missiles and drones. Achieving this objective will require a massive effort involving scientists, the armed forces and industry. A critical pillar of this architecture will be a robust space-based surveillance and communication network. India is expected to build and deploy more than 100 defence-related satellites over the next decade to support this objective. Expecting ISRO alone to undertake this task, while simultaneously executing planetary exploration missions, the human spaceflight program and the development of an Indian space station, is neither realistic nor advisable.
It’s time to redefine the role of ISRO. A useful parallel can be drawn with the United States. NASA no longer treats routine launches and transportation missions to the International Space Station (ISS) as its primary responsibility. Instead, it has increasingly partnered with private companies, like SpaceX, allowing them to undertake commercial launch services and some other missions while NASA concentrates on cutting-edge exploration, deep-space missions and advanced technology development. India must also think of undertaking a similar path.
The future of India’s space ambitions should not be viewed as any possible competition between ISRO and the private sector. Efforts should be made toward establishing a complementary partnership in which each strengthens the other.
Ajey Lele is deputy director general at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Views are personal.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)