T.N.-based Agnikul launches world’s first rocket with fully 3D-printed engine

• space start-up Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited launched the world’s first rocket with a single piece 3D-printed engine from Sriharikota.

Highlights:

• Agnibaan SubOrbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD) is India’s first launch from a private launchpad, called Dhanush, established by Agnikul.
• It is also India’s first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch and the world’s first single piece 3D-printed engine designed and built indigenously.
• The key purpose of this mission is to serve as a test flight, to demonstrate in-house and home-grown technologies, gather crucial flight data and ensure optimal functioning of systems for Agnikul’s orbital launch vehicle, the ‘Agnibaan’.
• Founded in 2017, Agnikul Cosmos became the first company in the country to sign an agreement with ISRO under the IN-SPACe initiative to have access to the space agency’s expertise and its facilities to build Agnibaan in December 2020.
• The Agnikul team consists of over 200 engineers and is associated with the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras.
• Agnibaan SOrTeD has got many firsts in its strides with being India’s first launch from a private launchpad, the first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch and the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed engine designed and built indigenously.
• This significant launch, coupled with the recently introduced guidelines for the implementation of the Indian Space Policy 2023 by IN-SPACe and the new FDI regulations, would undoubtedly bolster global confidence in India’s private space industry and its growing capabilities.

Prelims Takeaway

• Agnibaan
• Indian Space Policy