Agnikul Cosmos, the Chennai-based space start-up, which builds small rockets, is set for a test launch by December-end in a sub-orbital level at 50 to 60 km from the Earth from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Research Centre at Sriharikota. “We hope to start commercial launches from the second quarter of 2023,” said Srinath Ravichandran, Co-Founder and CEO of the company, which was incubated at IIT-Madras.

The company has raised around $15 million since its inception in December 2017, and plans to soon raise another $20 million with existing investors participating in it, Ravichandran told businessline. The current investors include Mayfield India, PI Ventures, Specialie Invest, Beenext, Artha Venture Fund, Lets Venture, CIIE, Globevestor and LionRock (Srihari Kumar). Anand Mahindra is also on board the company as a major investor, he said.

“We have accomplished all of the sub-system development, and know each of the systems independently. We are now putting the vehicle together to make the integration process work smoothly, so that we can start attempting the launches,” he said. The test launch is to prove all the core technologies, he added.

The company’s focus is to enable space transportation with low lead time. “We want to go to space within a two-week time frame as against the present waiting time of 18-24 months to launch small satellites. The only way to go to space is with the right share and finding the right partner. It is like waiting for a bus in a bus stop; there should be space in the bus to take you to the right place,” he said.

The company operates out of the IIT-Madras ecosystem, with multiple facilities in and around Chennai for 3D printing rocket engines, a testing facility and assembly facility.

Ravichandran said the company’s customers will be anyone who is building a small satellite and wants to go to Low Earth Orbit. The focus is on a class of satellite that is less than 300 kg in mass because the company’s rocket can put them in space quicker. “We do that with 2-3 technologies, including 3D printing by making rocket engines with a single piece system and the vehicle is configurable. This means, it can be expanded or can be shrunk depending on the satellite that’s taken to space,” he said.

The satellites can be launched from a mobile launch pad. This is an important factor to enable quick launches, he said.

Ravichadnran said the company’s two-stage rocket is a liquid propulsion with the combination being kerosene (Aviation Turbine Fuel) and liquid oxygen (cryogenic). The rocket will go to LEO of 500-600 km where there is the maximum commercial interest. The sub-orbital level is for test launch to prove that things work smoothly, he said.

Everything in the vehicle is designed inhouse. Validating those in a flight is a key milestone. Agnikul successfully test fired its single piece 3D printed engine - Agnilet Vertical Test Facility, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), at Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram. With the support of IN-SPACe and ISRO, the test was conducted to validate the technological possibility that rocket engines can be made as a single piece of hardware. 

On competition from others, Ravichandran said that rocket business is a logistics business and there is room for many players. It is a like a truck business. ‘Here, we make the truck and drive the truck,” he said. The amount of weight that goes to the orbit is the deciding factor, and the customer is charged based on per kg basis, he added.

Globally, around 100 tonnes is going just in small satellites every year with maximum number of launches happening in the US. However, they are not able to get enough rockets. This provides spaces to lot of players to come in. “With Skyroot (based on solid propulsion) and Agnikul being both Indian companies, the comparison comes in. While they are operating in the 500 kg class, we operate in less than in 300 kg class. It is important to focus on this class to filling the gap of fleet. While ISRO’s lowest capacity is 300 kg while ours stops at 300 kg. We also feel that small satellites are where the business is,” he said.

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