Chennai-based startup Agnikul plans to launch its first flight featuring the world’s first 3D-printed engine. The launch, scheduled by year-end, will serve as a technology demonstration for Agnikul’s orbital launch in 2024

Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited is a Chennai-based aerospace manufacturer and space-tech startup. The company specializes in building satellite launch vehicles.

Agnikul was founded in 2017 by Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and SR Chakravarthy at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. The company’s name comes from the Hindi and Sanskrit word for fire. 

Agnikul is preparing to launch its first rocket, Agnibaan, which will be India’s first kerosene-oxygen-powered rocket. The rocket is a single-stage launch vehicle powered by Agnikul’s patented Agnilet engine. Agnilet is a 3D-printed, 6 kilonewton (kN) semi-cryogenic engine that uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. 

Agnikul plans to launch a sub-orbital rocket from its own launch pad within the next two months. This would be India’s second private launch after Skyroot’s Vikram-S.

Agnilet is a single-piece, 3D-printed rocket engine. It was designed and manufactured in India and is the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed rocket engine. The engine was test-fired in early 2021 at IIT Madras. 

Agnilet was designed to be used in Agnibaan, a small satellite launch vehicle that can carry payloads of up to 300 kilograms to a low-Earth orbit. 

Here are some specifications for Agnilet: 

• Sea level thrust: 6 kN 
• Mass flow rate: 3 kg/s 
• Propellants: Subcooled LOX at 84K and ATF (semicryogenic engine) 
• Burn time: 108 seconds 

The Agnikul Cosmos space-tech startup secured a patent for Agnilet. The company’s production house has a 400mm x 400mm x 400mm metal 3D printer and other machines that enable end-to-end manufacturing of a rocket engine.

Agnilet’ is a single-piece engine, and the world’s first single-piece 3D printed rocket engine fully designed and manufactured in India. ‘Agnilet’ was test fired at the Vertical Test Facility at ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)

Agnikul Cosmos, a Chennai-based space-tech startup, designed and manufactured Agnilet. The company was incubated at IIT-Madras. 

Agnikul Cosmos also launched India’s first factory for manufacturing 3D-printed rockets. The factory is capable of producing Agnibaan rockets, which can carry up to 100 kg of payload to low Earth orbits.

The rocket engine in Agnikul is called Agnilet. It’s a 6 kilonewton (kN) semi-cryogenic engine that uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. Agnilet is a single-piece, 3D-printed engine with no assembled parts. 

Agnikul’s maiden rocket, Agnibaan, is a single-stage launch vehicle powered by Agnilet. Agnibaan is configurable by the customer, and doesn’t fly with the same number of engines all the time. The mission, the satellite, and the launchport decide how many engines go on the first stage. 

Agnikul is set to become the first Indian firm to design, develop, and launch a liquid-fuelled rocket.

Srinath Ravichandran is the co-founder and CEO of Agnikul Cosmos. He founded the company in 2017 with Moin SPM and SR Chakravarthy at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. 

Other executives at Agnikul Cosmos include: 

• Moin SPM, Co-Founder, COO 
• Giritharan Thiruppathirajan, Chief of Staff 

Agnikul Cosmos has raised over $26 million in funding. In 2022, they raised $20 million from investors like Mayfield and Artha Venture Funds.

Agnikul Cosmos’s launch vehicle is called Agnibaan SOrTeD (SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator). Agnibaan is a two-stage launch vehicle that can carry up to 300 kg to orbits around 700 km high. It can access both low and high inclination orbits and is designed to access more than 10 launchports.

Agnibaan is 18 meters long with a diameter of 1.3 meters and a lift-off mass of 14,000 kg. It will lift off vertically and follow a predetermined trajectory. 

Agnikul Cosmos is integrating Agnibaan with its private launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota.

Agnikul Cosmos plans to launch its first flight with the world’s first 3D-printed engine before the end of 2023. The launch vehicle will perform a series of maneuvers to validate technologies for the company’s upcoming orbital flights. 

Agnikul Cosmos has integrated the Agnibaan SOrTeD launch vehicle with its private launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota. The launchpad was unveiled by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on November 28, 2022.( full article source google)

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