IIT Madras-incubated space startup - Agnikul Cosmos successfully launched its SOrTeD mission on May 30

This spacetech business, supported by IIT Madras, has achieved historic status after four failed tries. On May 30, Agnikul Cosmos, a space startup supported by IIT Madras, successfully launched its SOrTeD mission. The mission is a demonstration of a single-stage launch vehicle driven by a 3D-printed, semi-cryogenic engine. Launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, ALP-01 is India's first private launchpad. Technical difficulties caused the launch to be delayed from its original April 7 date to May 30, when it finally blasted off at 7:15 a.m.

The roughly two-minute-long SOrTeD mission represented a major advancement in India's homegrown space technology development. It had an elliptical nose cone, an innovative avionics architecture, and in-house autopilot software. It was a 6.2-meter-tall single-stage launch vehicle. The Agnilet engine, the first single-piece 3D-printed semi-cryogenic rocket engine in the world, propelled the vehicle. Pitch-overs and wind biasing were among the exact maneuvers performed during the mission before landing in the Bay of Bengal. 

In an X post, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) thanked Agnikul Cosmos, writing, "We are delighted that Agnikul Cosmos's Agnibaan SoRTed-01 mission was successfully launched from their launch site. A significant accomplishment as the first-ever controlled flight of an additively manufactured semi-cryogenic liquid engine."

In his X (formerly Twitter) tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also praised the Agnikul team stating, "A remarkable feat which will make the entire nation proud!"

With the goal of competing in the multi-billion dollar small satellite launch industry, Agnikul Cosmos has made great progress with the successful launch of the SOrTeD mission. The Agnibaan launch vehicle will be developed with the assistance of the data gathered from this mission. It is anticipated that the Agnibaan will have a high degree of adaptability and be able to launch a 300 kg payload into a 700 km orbit. Small satellite launches could be transformed by the technology, becoming more affordable and widely available.

Several dignitaries witnessed the launch, including A. Raj Rajan, Director of the Sriharikota Range (SHAR), Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), and Rajeev Jyoti, Director (Technical) of IN-SPACe. Prominent figures in Agnikul's team were founding advisor Prof. Satyanarayanan R. Chakravarthy; co-founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran; co-founder and COO Moin SPM; vehicle director Saraniya Periaswamy of Agnibaan SOrTeD; and project director Umamaheswari K. of Mission-01 and Agnibaan SOrTeD.