This Indian Space Tech Company Has Successfully Test-Fired The World’s First Single-Piece 3D-Rocket Engine

Agnikul, a Chennai-based space-tech start-up, announced on Tuesday that its single-piece 3D-printed engine, Agnilet, had successfully test-fired at the Vertical Test Facility, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram.

This test was carried out with the assistance of IN-SPACe and ISRO to validate the technological possibility of making rocket engines as a single piece of hardware.

The company recently stated that the Indian government had granted it a patent for the design and construction of its single-piece rocket engines. Agnilet is the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed rocket engine, designed and built entirely in India. In 2021, it was successfully tested at IIT Madras. This new test at TERLS has confirmed the startup’s design and production methods. According to the start-up, this is a significant milestone for 3D printing technology in India.

“Besides validating our in-house technology, this is also a huge step in understanding how to design, develop and fire rocket engines at a professional level,” said Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder & CEO of Agnikul.

“With the efforts of IN-SPACe, the private space ecosystem is growing in the right direction and also gets access to state-of-the-art technologies to make and test world-class products inside the country,” said Moin SPM, co-founder & COO, Agnikul.

Agnikul, founded in 2017 and incubated at IIT Madras, has raised $15 million in total funding.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *