Chennai-based spacetech startup Agnikul Cosmos on July 13 announced the opening of what it claims to be India’s first-ever facility to manufacture 3D-printed rocket engines at scale.
Agnikul’s Rocket Factory-1, situated at IIT Madras Research Park, houses a 400mm x 400mm x 400mm metal 3D printer and other machines under one roof. The factory has been designed keeping in mind the ability to produce two rocket engines per week.
Agnikul had entered into an agreement with 3D printing machine maker EOS in 2021 as their 3D printing partner for engines.
Commenting about their new facility, Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO of Agnikul said, “This marks the beginning of a new phase - a phase where we step into scaling and production from R&D and testing."
The startup’s products include Agnibaan, a customizable, two-stage launch vehicle, capable of taking up to 100 kg payload to orbits around 700 km high (low Earth orbits) and enables plug-and-play configuration, and Agnilet which the startup claims to be the world's first single-piece 3D-printed engine fully designed and manufactured in India.
Agnikul has raised total funding of Rs 105 crore ($15 million) from Mayfield India, pi Ventures, Speciale Invest and a host of others including prominent angels such as Anand Mahindra and Naval Ravikant since 2019. Reports also said that the startup is in talks to raise $40 million at a $250 million valuation.
Founded in 2017 by Ravichandran, Moin SPM and SR Chakravarthy (from IIT Madras), the startup became the first Indian company to sign an agreement with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The agreement signed in December 2020 under the IN-SPACe initiative sanctioned Agnikul access to the Indian space agency’s expertise and facilities to build Agnibaan.
The factory was inaugurated by ISRO Chairman S Somnath, in-Space Chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran and others.
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