Govt moves to stem exodus from key Isro missions; at least 100 quit in past few months

BENGALURU: The department of space (DoS) has stepped in to curb a recent wave of resignations from Isro’s flagship programmes, tightening rules on voluntary retirement and resignations by scientists working on Gaganyaan and other critical missions through a fresh internal memorandum dated July 14.While DoS hasn’t disclosed the scale of departures, multiple Isro sources told TOI that it was substantial enough — between 100 and 120 at least — to trigger the intervention. “Around 80 people have quit from URSC alone. At VSSC, at least 20 people have left. Overall, it could be roughly up to 120, conservatively. There could be more that are at the evaluation stage,” a source said.Another source said the departures included key personnel like LVM-3 project director Victor Joseph from VSSC. “SpaDeX project director quit from URSC.