ISRO to Stop Building Launch Vehicles, Leaving Manufacturing to Industry

The Indian Space Research Organisation is shifting what it builds. It will focus on research, development and large missions, while the manufacturing of launch vehicles and routine satellites passes to private companies and public-sector undertakings.

"ISRO will not manufacture any launch vehicles. That will all be done by the private sector or public sector undertakings," said Pawan Goenka, chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, speaking at a media summit.

The change arrives alongside a heavy mission schedule: a crewed orbital spacecraft next year, the Bharatiya Antriksh Station planned by 2035, and an Indian landing on the Moon envisaged by 2040. India now has around 450 space startups working across the upstream and downstream segments — upstream covering the building, testing, launching and monitoring of space assets, downstream the services and devices that rely on satellites.

Industry figures described it as a natural progression. "ISRO will push further into research and frontier technology while private players like us take on more of the manufacturing and operational scale," said Moin SPM, co-founder and chief operating officer of Agnikul Cosmos. He added that such a transfer has to come with clear regulatory oversight, security vetting and safeguards keeping critical intellectual property and manufacturing capability within India.

Recent flights by private companies had shown Indian firms could build at a globally competitive level, said Lieutenant General A K Bhatt (retired), director general of the Indian Space Association, who said the move signals that Indian space companies can move from innovation to execution and scale.