ISRO Recruitment 2026: 175 Posts, Dates + Apply Checklist

What is the latest ISRO recruitment update?

The current ISRO recruitment update is Advertisement No. ISRO:ICRB:03(EMC):2026, dated 27 August 2026, through which the ISRO Centralised Recruitment Board (ICRB) invites online applications for 175 Scientist/Engineer 'SC' posts.

The posts are Group 'A' Gazetted at constituent ISRO Centres and Group 'A' Non-Gazetted at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), an autonomous body under the Department of Space. The notification states that the vacancy count is tentative and that any change will be announced through a corrigendum on the ISRO website.

One point that trips up candidates every cycle: this recruitment does not use GATE. ISRO releases Scientist/Engineer 'SC' vacancies in separate batches through the year, and some earlier batches have been GATE-score based. For this one, you sit ISRO's own written test/CBT. If you were tracking an earlier 2026 GATE-linked cycle, treat this as a separate recruitment with its own application.

The written test date has not been announced in the notification. Call letters go only to your registered email ID, so the email address you enter is effectively your only channel of communication with ICRB.

How many vacancies are there in each discipline?

ISRO has notified 175 vacancies across six post codes, split between constituent ISRO Centres and PRL.

Electronics candidates have by far the best odds here, with 99 of the 175 seats. Computer Science candidates should note that 21 posts is a small pool against the number of CSE graduates who will apply, so the effective competition ratio in that discipline will be the harshest of the three.

Vacancies have also been identified for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities across the five disability categories (A to E), including backlog vacancies in BE001, BE002 and BE003. If suitable PwBD candidates are not available in a notified category, the notification allows interchange among the five categories, so ISRO explicitly encourages all PwBD candidates from categories A to E to apply. PwBD-identified posts exist at HSFC Bengaluru, NRSC Hyderabad, IPRC Mahendragiri, ISTRAC Bengaluru, LPSC Valiamala, MCF Hassan, SAC Ahmedabad, SDSC SHAR Sriharikota, URSC Bengaluru and VSSC Thiruvananthapuram.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility for ISRO recruitment 2026 rests on three conditions: a completed BE/B.Tech in the right discipline, marks at or above the threshold, and age.

Three rules inside the notification cause most rejections, and all three are easy to miss:

1. Graduation must be completed within the stipulated duration of the course as prescribed by your university. A backlog year that stretched your degree beyond its normal duration is a genuine risk here, and it is worth clarifying before you pay.
2. CGPA cannot be converted to percentage to establish eligibility, and percentage cannot be converted to CGPA either. Where your certificate mentions only CGPA, that CGPA itself must meet 6.84. A university conversion formula does not help you, even if your college prescribes one.
3. Where the certificate shows both CGPA and percentage, at least one of the two must meet the norm. That is the one place the rules work in your favour.

For dual or integrated degree programmes, the notification specifies separate rules: where graduation and post-graduation figures are shown separately, the graduation figure is used; where a single common figure covers the whole course, that final figure is used.

Age relaxation applies to serving Central Government civilian employees, ex-servicemen and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities as per Government of India orders. For PwBD reservation, the disability must be at least 40%, and candidates are advised to get any manual certificate digitised on the UDID portal in good time.

What is the salary for an ISRO Scientist/Engineer 'SC'?

Selected candidates are appointed at Level 10 of the Pay Matrix with a minimum basic pay of ₹56,100 per month, plus allowances.

On top of basic pay, the notification lists Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance and Transport Allowance as per extant Central Government rules. Employees come under the New Pension Scheme. Other benefits include medical facilities for self and dependents, subsidised canteen, limited quarters in lieu of HRA, Leave Travel Concession, Group Insurance and House Building Advance.

A realistic note on comparison: the in-hand figure depends on your posting city's HRA classification and the prevailing DA rate, so treat basic pay as the fixed anchor and everything else as variable. Against a private product-company offer, the headline CTC will often look smaller. What Level 10 buys instead is job security, pension coverage, subsidised housing and medical cover, and work on launch vehicles and satellites that has no private equivalent in India.

Appointees are liable to be posted at any Centre or Unit of the Department of Space and can be transferred on need. If a fixed city matters to you, this is the trade-off to weigh before applying.

What is the selection process and exam pattern?

Selection for ISRO recruitment 2026 has two stages: a written test/CBT, then an interview for those shortlisted.

The written test carries 100 marks in two parts.

Part B covers numerical, logical, diagrammatic, abstract and deductive reasoning. Note the marks-per-question asymmetry: 15 questions carry 20 marks, so each Part B question is worth more than a Part A question and carries no risk. Attempt all of them.

To qualify, unreserved candidates need 50% in each part separately; PwBD candidates need 40% in each part where posts are reserved. Clearing one part does not compensate for the other.

Shortlisting for interview is in a 1:5 ratio with an aggregate minimum of 10 candidates, and reserved vacancies get separate shortlists in the same ratio. The final panel gives 50% weightage to the written test and 50% to the interview, with an aggregate qualifying requirement of 60% for unreserved candidates. Ties are broken by written test marks first, then marks in the essential qualification, then date of birth, with older candidates placed higher.

The test runs at 37 venues across India, from Port Blair and Kavaratti to Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Guwahati. ICRB reserves the right to change a venue and reallot candidates. Answer keys are published on the ISRO website within three working days of the test, and objections must be raised within five days through a link provided after the test.

How many questions do you actually need to get right?

You need 40 marks in Part A and 10 marks in Part B to clear the qualifying bar, and negative marking makes 40 harder than it looks.

Part A gives +1 for a correct answer, 0 for unattempted and −1/3 for a wrong one. Work the arithmetic:

• 45 correct, 20 wrong → 45 − 6.67 = 38.33 marks. Below the cutoff.
• 47 correct, 20 wrong → 47 − 6.67 = 40.33 marks. Clears.
• 42 correct, 6 wrong → 42 − 2 = 40 marks. Clears, on 48 attempts.

The pattern in those three lines: a candidate who guesses widely can attempt 65 questions and still miss the cutoff, while a candidate who attempts 48 with discipline clears it. Every three wrong answers cancel one correct answer, so a guess is only worth taking when you have genuinely eliminated two of the four options.

Part B has no negative marking, so leave nothing blank there. With 20 marks across a maximum of 15 questions, and 10 marks needed, Part B is the cheaper half of your qualifying requirement.

Clearing both parts only makes you eligible for shortlisting, not shortlisted. With a 1:5 ratio against 175 posts, the practical target is a Part A score well above 40, not at it.

How are the interview's 100 marks awarded?

The ISRO interview is scored out of 100 across five attributes, and the breakdown is worth reading carefully before you decide whether your college holds you back.

The academic achievements block of 10 marks splits further: 3 marks for institute type (IITs, IISc, IIST, NITs and institutes in the NIRF top 20, else nil), 4 marks for academic performance (CGPA above 9 or above 85% earns 4; CGPA 7.5–9 or 71–85% earns 2; else nil), and 3 marks for an institute-awarded rank between 1 and 3, else nil.

Read that honestly. A student from a Tier-3 private college with no institute rank starts 6 marks behind an NIT topper, out of 100. That gap is real, and it is also small. The other 90 marks — technical depth, domain awareness, how clearly you explain yourself, and how well you understand the question being asked — are available to anyone who prepares. And since the final panel weighs the written test at 50%, the college-linked disadvantage is 6 marks in half the total, which is roughly 3% of your final position.

If you were waiting for permission to apply from a college nobody has heard of, this table is it. The gap that actually decides selections is preparation depth, not campus brand.

How much is the fee, and how does the refund work?

The application fee is ₹250 and is non-refundable, but every candidate must first pay ₹750 as a processing fee at the time of applying.

The critical condition: the refund is processed only if you actually appear for the written test/CBT. Skip the exam and the entire ₹750 is gone. Refunds go to the bank account entered in your application, so an incorrect IFSC or account number is your problem, not ICRB's — the notification says so explicitly.

Payment is online only, through the Bharatkosh e-payment gateway, using internet banking, UPI or a domestic debit card. Cash, cheque, draft, money order and IPO are not accepted, and applicable service charges are borne by you. If you submit multiple applications for the same post, only the one against which the fee was received within the last date is considered.

What other ISRO recruitments are live right now?

Three separate ISRO recruitments have been in circulation during 2026, and searchers regularly land on the wrong one.

• Scientist/Engineer 'SC' — 175 posts (ICRB:03(EMC):2026). The subject of this article. Own written test/CBT, applications close 16 September 2026.
• Assistant, UDC, JPA and Stenographer — 267 posts (ICRB:01(A-JPA):2026). Non-engineering administrative posts. Applications have closed; the written exam is scheduled for 21 September 2026.
• An earlier 2026 Scientist/Engineer 'SC' cycle of 92 posts that used GATE scores. That cycle is separate and its process does not carry over to the current notification.

Individual ISRO centres — SDSC SHAR, VSSC, NRSC, SAC and others — also run their own recruitments for technician, technical assistant and apprentice posts outside ICRB's centralised drives. Those are announced on the individual centre pages rather than the main careers page, which is why they are easy to miss entirely.

For anything time-sensitive, check the recruitment section of isro.gov.in directly. Aggregator sites are fast but occasionally carry stale vacancy counts after a corrigendum.

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The 14-Day ISRO Application Checklist

Applications close on 16 September 2026 at 11:55 PM. Copy this list and work through it. Items 1 to 5 decide whether you should apply at all, so do them before paying anything.

Step 1 — Eligibility self-check (do this today)

1. Confirm your degree is BE/B.Tech in Electronics & Communication, Mechanical, or Computer Science. For an allied branch, check the FAQs published on the ISRO website against this advertisement before assuming you qualify.
2. Open your consolidated marksheet. If it shows CGPA only, confirm it is 6.84/10 or above as printed. Do not convert it to a percentage — the notification does not permit conversion for eligibility.
3. If it shows both CGPA and percentage, confirm at least one meets the bar (6.84 or 65%).
4. Calculate your age as on 16 September 2026. If you are over 28 and hold no relaxation ground, stop here.
5. Confirm your degree was completed within the course's stipulated duration.

Step 2 — Documents (day 1 to day 3)

1. Take a fresh passport-size colour photograph. The English text of the notification specifies not older than 3 months; the Hindi text says 6 months, and the notification states that the English version prevails in case of ambiguity. Use a photograph under 3 months old and remove the risk.
2. Resize the photo to 200 × 230 pixels, 100–200 KB, .jpg or .jpeg. No caps, no hats, no dark glasses, no reflections on spectacles, light background.
3. Sign on white paper with a black ink pen, scan it, resize to 140 × 60 pixels, 80–150 KB. Not in capital letters.
4. Scan your SC/ST, disability or ex-servicemen certificate if you are claiming a full fee refund.
5. Keep your bank account name, number and IFSC ready — the fee refund goes there and an error costs you ₹500 to ₹750.

Step 3 — Apply (day 3 to day 10, not day 14)

1. Register on isro.gov.in with an email ID you check daily. Every call letter and communication comes only by email, including spam-folder risk.
2. Save the online Registration Number generated after registration.
3. Fill the form and re-read every field before submitting. Duplicate applications for the same post create fee-matching problems.
4. Pay ₹750 via Bharatkosh using internet banking, UPI or a domestic debit card.
5. Save the payment confirmation and take a printout of the submitted form.

Step 4 — Prepare while you wait (day 10 onwards)

1. Build your Part A preparation around your core branch syllabus, not around general engineering trivia. Discipline-specific questions carry 80 of the 100 marks.
2. Practise Part B reasoning — numerical, logical, diagrammatic, abstract and deductive. No negative marking makes this the cheapest 20 marks available.
3. Drill negative-marking discipline: mark a question only when you have eliminated at least two options.
4. Employed candidates — start the NOC process with your employer now. Without the original NOC at the interview, you will not be allowed to appear and no travel allowance is paid.
5. Check isro.gov.in weekly for corrigenda, the written test date and the answer key window.

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Common Mistakes

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the last date for ISRO recruitment 2026?

The last date to submit the online application for ISRO Scientist/Engineer 'SC' recruitment under Advt No. ISRO:ICRB:03(EMC):2026 is 16 September 2026 at 11:55 PM. The application fee must also be paid by the same date. Applications are accepted online only, through the ISRO website.

Is GATE required for ISRO recruitment 2026?

No, GATE is not required for this notification. ISRO conducts its own written test/CBT for the 175 Scientist/Engineer 'SC' posts under ICRB:03(EMC):2026, and a GATE score cannot be substituted for it. Some earlier ISRO cycles have used GATE scores, so confirm which notification you are applying under.

How many vacancies has ISRO announced?

ISRO has announced 175 Scientist/Engineer 'SC' vacancies: 99 in Electronics, 52 in Mechanical and 21 in Computer Science at constituent ISRO Centres, plus one post in each discipline at the Physical Research Laboratory. The notification states these numbers are tentative and may change through a corrigendum.

What is the ISRO Scientist/Engineer 'SC' salary?

Selected candidates are appointed at Level 10 of the Pay Matrix with a minimum basic pay of ₹56,100 per month. Dearness Allowance, House Rent Allowance and Transport Allowance are paid as per Central Government rules, along with medical cover, subsidised canteen, LTC, group insurance and coverage under the New Pension Scheme.

Can I apply for ISRO if my CGPA is 6.8?

No. The minimum requirement is 65% aggregate marks or CGPA 6.84 out of 10, and the notification does not permit converting CGPA into percentage to establish eligibility. If your certificate shows both figures, at least one must meet the norm, which is the only route by which a borderline CGPA can still qualify.

Is there negative marking in the ISRO written test?

Yes, in Part A. Each correct answer earns +1, unattempted questions score zero, and each wrong answer costs 1/3 mark across the 80 discipline-specific questions. Part B, the 15-question aptitude section worth 20 marks, carries no negative marking, so every question there should be attempted.

Can students from Tier-3 colleges get selected in ISRO?

Yes. Institute type carries only 3 of the 100 interview marks, awarded to IITs, IISc, IIST, NITs and NIRF top-20 institutes. Since the final panel weighs the written test and interview equally, college brand affects roughly 3% of your final score. Preparation depth decides far more.

When is the ISRO written test/CBT 2026?

The notification does not specify a written test date. Call letters and hall tickets will be sent only to the registered email ID of applicants, and the test will be conducted at 37 venues across India. Answer keys are published on the ISRO website within three working days of the test.

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Conclusion

The window is short. Applications for the 175 Scientist/Engineer 'SC' posts close on 16 September 2026, and the two things that reject most candidates — a CGPA that cannot be converted and a degree not completed within its stipulated duration — take ten minutes to check on your own marksheet.

Do the eligibility check today, apply well before the deadline rather than on it, and spend the remaining time on discipline-specific preparation, where 80 of the 100 written-test marks live. If you are hesitating because of where you studied, the interview marking scheme says that is worth three marks.

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