Agnikul Cosmos Successfully Completes Maiden Test Flight Of Homegrown Agnibaan Rocket

Indian spacetech startup Agnikul Cosmos claims to have completed the first flight or Mission 01 of its homegrown rocket Agnibaan SOrTeD.

This launch took place from the company’s private launchpad, located within the SDSC-SHAR at Sriharikota.

“All the mission objectives of this controlled vertical ascent flight were met and performance was nominal. The vehicle was completely designed in-house and was powered by the world’s first single piece 3d printed engine and also happens to be India’s first flight with a semi cryo engine,” the company said on X.

Earlier this month, the spacetech startup reportedly cancelled the test flight of its privately-built rocket, just seconds before the planned launch.

The startup’s first attempt to launch Agnibaan, on March 22, was delayed over “unavoidable circumstances”. On April 6, the launch was yet again postponed before being rescheduled for April 7, which was also rescheduled citing technical issues.

The two-stage launch vehicle called Agnibaan SOrTeD (SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator) can carry a payload of up to 300 kg into orbit of about 700 km, as per the startup. With a plug-and-play engine configuration, the rocket is 18 metres long and has a diameter of 1.3 metres.

The rocket has a lift-off mass of 14,000 kgs. The startup claims that the launch vehicle is driven by an entirely 3D-printed, single-piece, 6 kN semi-cryogenic engine called Agnile

Founded in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and SR Chakravarthy, Agnikul has built the country’s first private launch vehicle for small satellites. It claims to cater to clients looking to launch small satellites and reduce their dependence on expensive large launch vehicles.

Incubated at IIT-Madras, Agnikul was the first Indian startup to sign an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in December 2020.

Agnikul last raised INR 200 Cr in its Series B funding round from Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc, Artha Venture Fund, Mayfield India, among others.

The startup saw its net loss more than double year-on-year to INR 20.2 Cr in FY23, as it continued to spend on its business while the operating revenue remained zero.

Agnikul reported a loss of INR 9 Cr on a total revenue of INR 2.2 Cr in FY22. The startup’s revenue increased 31.8% to INR 2.9 Cr in FY23.

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