Context: Agnikul Cosmos, a private space company, carried out the first successful launch of its indigenously built rocket, Agnibaan SOrTED (Suborbital Tech Demonstrator) from India’s first and only private launchpad within Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. It is also India’s first flight with a Semi-Cryo engine.
About Agnibaan SOrTED:
- SOrTeD uses the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed engine, designed and built indigenously.
- It is powered by liquid fuel in the core. All the ISRO rockets have solid fuel in the core, though the strap-on rockets (small rockets that cling to the sides of the main rocket at the bottom) were liquid-fuel fired. Agnibaan is also designed to be fitted with strap-ons.
- It was for the first time in India that a semi-cryogenic engine was used: ATF (Aviation turbine fuel) at ambient temperature and liquid oxygen (oxidiser) in cryogenic condition. Fuel loading had to begin only 3 hours before the lift-off.
- It was also the first private rocket that was controlled during the entire flight. Its velocity, attitude and position were fully telemetered, and it could be destroyed on the ground if something went wrong.
- The Agnibaan rocket is a customisable, two-stage launch vehicle that can carry up to 300 kilo-gram of payload to orbits nearly 700 kilometers in altitude.
- Agnikul Cosmos:
- It is an Indian aerospace manufacturer based in National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) of IIT Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- In 2017, it was formally incorporated as a company.
- AgniKul signed a framework agreement with the Department of Space in 2021 for access to ISRO facilities and technical expertise for the development of its two-stage small-satellite Agnibaan launch vehicle.