Tamil Nadu-based Agnikul launches world’s first rocket with fully 3D-printed engine

The Chennai headquartered space start-up Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited on Thursday, May 30, finally launched its first rocket Agnibaan Sub Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The launch was previously postponed several times.

At 8.12 am, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) posted a message on X, saying: “Congratulations @AgnikulCosmos for the successful launch of the Agnibaan SoRTed-01 mission from their launch pad. A major milestone, as the first-ever controlled flight of a semi-cryogenic liquid engine realized through additive manufacturing.”

Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe),a single-window, independent, nodal agency that functions as an autonomous agency in the Department of Space (DOS) also took to X and said: “Heartiest Congratulations @AgnikulCosmos for the successful launch of the Agnibaan SoRTed-01 mission from their launch pad at SDSC. This is the first-ever controlled flight of a semi-cryogenic liquid engine realized through 3D manufacturing.

Agnibaan SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator (SOrTeD), vehicle is seen at Agnikul’s Launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. | Photo Credit: Reuters

The IIT-Madras incubated startup was supposed to do this launch on April 7 but had to postpone it 129 seconds before the lift-off due to some technical glitches. On the same day the startup posted on X saying: “Had to call off today’s launch attempt of Agnibaan SOrTeD just a second into Automated Launch Sequence (ALS) initiation (at T-129 seconds) because of a communication issue between 2 of our onboard hardware. Although it is frustrating to see a HOLD this close to lift off, we are glad that our ALS did its job. We’ll get to the root cause and come back for launch after a fixing the cause. Thank you for the support as always.”

Agnibaan SOrTeD is India’s first launch from a private launchpad. It is India’s first semi-cryogenic engine powered rocket launch and the world’s first single piece 3D printed engine designed and built indigenously.

Founded in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and Satya Chakravarthy, 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.

Lt. Gen. A.K. Bhatt (Retd.), Director General, Indian Space Association (IspA) said: “What Agnikul has achieved today, is nothing short of a historical milestone, since India launched its maiden rocket in 1963 from Thumba launch station. 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.”

He added 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, will undoubtedly bolster global confidence in India’s private space industry and its growing capabilities.

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