# ISRO issues memo after nearly 100 resignations hit Gaganyaan work 2026-08-27T06:05:41+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Department of Space has issued a memorandum to halt the exodus of scientists and engineers from ISRO, after nearly 100 personnel resigned across various centres. The July 14 directive notes that the departures include staff assigned to the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and other nationally critical projects, warning the trend is "severely impacting" their execution. Joint Secretary (Personnel) S.R. Rajashekar signed the memo, which targets Group 'A' scientific and technical staff leaving through voluntary retirement or resignation. The memorandum does not detail specific retention measures, but signals that further submissions for exit from key missions may face heightened scrutiny. The resignations are spread across ISRO centres, not concentrated in one location. The space agency has not publicly commented beyond the internal circular. The next move will be how ISRO leadership enforces the memo and whether departures slow during the current fiscal year. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The scale of the exodus is stark: around 100 personnel from a workforce of roughly 12,000. The memorandum's language, "severely impacting" project implementation, signals disruption beyond routine attrition. ISRO missions operate on decade-long cycles: losing a lead engineer midway through Gaganyaan, India's first human spaceflight programme, can delay integration and safety certification. The Department of Space's internal response, a formal memorandum circulated to all centres rather than isolated retention packages, suggests a systemic concern. DoS now faces a balancing act: it must tighten rules to protect mission continuity without alienating staff who leave for higher pay in the private space sector, which the 2020 space sector reforms deliberately encouraged. The number to watch is how many of the 100 actually stay after this circular. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Leads with the internal department memo and quotes the official concern verbatim, no opposition or ex-staff critique is cited. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Department of Space, Gaganyaan, ISRO, S.R. Rajashekar Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/isro-issues-memo-after-nearly-100-resignations-hit-gaganyaan-work/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/isro-issues-memo-after-nearly-100-resignations-hit-gaganyaan-work/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/