Space Startup Agnikul Ready For Its Sub-Orbital Rocket Launch On Friday

Agnikul Cosmos, India’s private space start-up, will test-fire on Friday its rocket named Agnibaan SOrTeD (Suborbital Tech Demonstrator), which is powered by an engine that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is still trying to master.

Incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, this will be the first test flight for the 2017 born space start-up by two young aerospace engineers with a dream to create “a place where people learn to use fire”.

The 580 kilogram rocket, will lift off from Sriharikota and in the first flight could go only as high as 20 kilometres above the Earth, before plunging down into the Bay of Bengal and may carry 7 kg of payloads.

The Agnibaan SOrTeD will be powered by a semi-cryogenic engine that uses commercially available aviation turbine fuel or essentially kerosene and medical grade liquid oxygen, says Moin SPM, co-founder Agnikul Cosmos Pvt Ltd.

ISRO has never flown a semi-cryogenic engine and ‘the first hot test’ of semi-cryogenic engine on a stationary test bed was conducted on July 3 last year. The company is attempting what no other Indian private firm has done before.

Agnikul is demonstrating the first semi-cryogenic and 3D printed engine by the Indian private sector, says Dr Pawan Goenka, a highly regarded mechanical engineer and Chairperson, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), part of the Department of Space, the single window regulator and promoter for all space activities in India.

Dr Goenka says “this bold innovation could be a significant differentiator when commercial launches start by India’s start ups”.

“The launch is significant since it is India’s first launch from a private launch pad and the rocket has world’s first single piece 3D printed engine designed and built indigenously,” says Srinath Ravichandran, another co-founder of the space start-up.

“Agnibaan SOrTeD (Suborbital Tech Demonstrator) is a single-stage launch vehicle driven by Agnikul’s patented Agnilet engine – an entirely 3D-printed, single-piece, 6 kN semi-cryogenic engine. Agnibaan SOrTeD will lift off vertically and follow a predetermined trajectory. The trajectory, manoeuvres and various flight events that will occur during the mission have been configured to validate tech integral to the success of our upcoming orbital flights. We are excited to be attempting this flight from our own launch pad named Dhanush at Sriharikota,” the company said in a statement.

Among the many first for India, the Agnibaan rocket will be firing up on a special 3D printed engine which is single piece equipment and the quality testing time for such engines is highly reduced by using 3D printing technology, says Mr Moin.

The engine will also be powered by commercially available aviation turbine fuel and liquid oxygen, this makes for a cheap and easily available non corrosive fuel which is easily sourceable, says Mr Moin, adding this also makes launching of rockets from multiple locations with minimum facilities far easier.

In another first, Agnikul has been permitted to make a special launch pad near the sea on the island of Sriharikota with its own dedicated control room. This is part of ISRO opening up its facilities as part of ease of doing business for Indian space companies.

“This will be the first controlled flight of a rocket by a private company and all precautions are being taken to make sure nothing goes amiss, if things do go awry then the ISRO provided self-destruct mechanism can be activated by the Range Safety Officer,” says Mr Moin.

Agnikul follows up on the first launch made by an Indian space company which was Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited which in 2022 flew a solid fuelled sounding rocket from Sriharikota. Now, Agnikul with its Agnibaan rockets, when it becomes operational, hopes to undertake launch on demand and they hope to hoist 30 to 300 kilogram satellites into space.

“We hope to build dedicated, fully customizable & transportable launch vehicles for small satellites to Low Earth Orbits (LEO). The launch vehicle- Agnibaan is powered by a single-piece 3D-printed engine that can be made in 72 hours without any human intervention. It is compatible with the mobile launch pad called “Dhanush” which makes the launch location agnostic and, most importantly, it could be configured to fly with 4/5/6/7 [engines] which makes the launch cost the same across the spectrum of mass – 30 kg – 300 kg,” says the company.

Agnikul has already attracted an investment of $40 million and has a team of 250 members. “The average age of employees at Agnikul is 23 years and all are fired up to innovate,” says Mr Moin, underscoring that India can become hub for small satellite launches as more and more global companies are opting for constellations of satellites placed in low earth orbits.