Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Small rocket maker Agnikul Cosmos Private Ltd is looking at overseas rocket ports to launch its rocket with small satellites apart from the Indian rocket launch centres, said a top company official. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="77506716" title="India’s first private player to successfully test a homegrown rocket engine is on track for its first full rocket launch by 2021" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> "Our first preference is to use Indian rocket ports at Sriharikota or the upcoming one at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu (both belonging to the Indian Space Research Organisation). If the customer prefers the launch to happen from some other country, we will ship the rocket and launch from there," Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder and CEO Agnikul Cosmos Pvt Ltd, told IANS. In July 2020, Agnikul signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Italian company Leaf Space for ground station services. Ravichandran said the company has signed up with a launch port in South Australia and is exploring four to five launch ports across the world. The company is hopeful of signing a satellite launch contract in 2021 and the debut launch of its rocket 'Agnibaan' is planned for 2022. Towards roping in customers Agnikul has recently signed up with Germany based HOSTmi - a match making platform between satellite owners and satellite launch companies. "HOSTmi is supported by the European Space Agency to make it easy for European customers to have on-demand access to space," Ravichandran said. According to Ravichandran, Agnikul has already signed MoUs with several European customers - Deployables Cube, Alen Space, Innovative Solutions in Space, Nanoavionics A-A to launch their small satellite systems. Speaking about the status of the Agnibaan rocket, he said the upper stage engine has been realised and work is on for realising the first stage engine, which is bigger in size to give the necessary thrust during the initial stages of the rocket's flight. All the engines will be fired by semi-cryogenic fuel or simply put pure kerosene. The rocket height will be 18 metres and it would weigh about 14 tons at lift off and has a carrying capacity of 100 kg to low earth orbit (LEO). "We will be integrating the rocket stages in a horizontal manner. Horizontal integration is not new for the industry. Our workshop is in IIT Madras Research Park. We will be needing additional space," Ravichandran said. While there is no certifying agency for satellite launchers, Ravichandran said the company has asked ISRO to review their engine. "Having now completed multiple engine firings and igniter hot fire tests, we are now gearing up to a full blown semi-cryogenic engine hot fire test in the coming months," he remarked. Agnikul will buy commercially available navigation systems and modify them to its needs. According to Ravichandran, the global micro, nano and small satellite (satellites weighing 1kg to 150kg) launch market is estimated to be about $2-$3 billion per year. About 500 satellites are being launched across the world and the carrying rate is about $40,000 per kg for low earth orbit. Presently, small satellites are carried as piggyback luggage by bigger rockets. Thus, the waiting time for small satellite makers to put their satellites into orbit is very long. While small rocket players may face competition from agencies having bigger rockets in terms of pricing, Ravichandran said the satellite players will have to look at the opportunity cost of waiting for space in a bigger rocket whereas it may not be so with players like Agnikul. He said Agnikul has raised $4 million in two rounds of funding till date. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/nasa-confirms-that-the-dent-in-earths-protective-shield-is-splitting-into-two-and-it-is-getting-bigger/articleshow/77611768.cms">NASA confirms that the dent in Earth’s protective shield is splitting into two as it gets bigger</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/elon-musks-spacex-catches-falcon-9s-rocket-head-for-the-third-time-in-a-row-with-a-giant-net-out-in-the-middle-of-the-atlantic-ocean/articleshow/77631212.cms">Elon Musk’s SpaceX catches Falcon 9’s rocket head for the third time in a row — with a giant net out in the middle of the Atlantic ocean</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/skyroot-aerospace-successfully-tests-homegrown-rocket-engine-is-on-track-for-its-first-full-rocket-launch-by-2021/articleshow/77506716.cms">India’s first private player to successfully test a homegrown rocket engine is on track for its first full rocket launch by 2021</a>

Indian space startup Agnikul may be looking outside India to launch its rockets

With the government opening up the space sector for private investments, Chennai-based rocket making start-up <keyword id="7122982" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="agnikul-cosmos">Agnikul Cosmos</keyword> Private Ltd is expecting to have its rocket ready by 2022, said a top company official. "We have realised the engine for the upper stage or third stage and work is on for the first and second stage engines of the rocket. We hope to have the engines in seven months' time. Depending on how the Covid-19 lockdown progresses, we expect the rocket to be ready by later part of 2022," Co-founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran told IANS. Agnikul, he said, is developing a three-stage (three engine) rocket, powered by kerosene or semi-cryogenic fuel with a carrying capacity of 100 kg to low earth orbit. The rocket height will be 18 metres and it would weigh about 13 ton at liftoff. According to Ravichandran, the company will buy commercially-available navigation systems and modify them to its needs. The company, which has 50 employees, is currently working out of the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development located at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras. Ravichandran said that Agnikul has raised about Rs 26 crore till date from various investors and the promoters have also put in their own funds. Agreeing that the money in rocket launch services is very low compared to that in satellite application service and ground equipment, Ravichandran said: "The estimated market for small satellite launches is about $ 2-2.5 million per year. This market will grow when there are rockets available for putting into orbit small satellites." Presently, small satellites are carried as piggyback luggage by bigger rockets. Thus, the waiting time for small satellite makers to put their satellites into orbit is very long. "But if there are rockets available to launch small satellites, then the market for such satellites and also for small rockets will increase," Ravichandran said. While small rocket players may face competition from agencies having bigger rockets in terms of pricing, Ravichandran said the satellite players will have to look at the opportunity cost of waiting for the space in a bigger rocket whereas it may be not be so with players like Agnikul. Currently the US-based Rocket Lab is the only player in the segment that Agnikul is targeting. "By 2022, more number of such small rockets are expected to come into the satellite launch vehicle market," Ravichandran said. As regards the rocket ports, Agnikul will be looking at using the existing rocket port at Sriharikota belonging to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) or the one that is coming up at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu. Happy at the Indian government's decision to open up the space sector for private players Ravichandran said the proposed Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) should have technical experts so that valid proposals are taken forward as well as marketing people who understand business. According to the Indian government, IN-SPACe will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.

Indian start-up is building a three-stage rocket that could be ready to launch by 2022

The Department of Space on Thursday said it has signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Chennai-based small rocket company <keyword id="7122982" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="agnikul-cosmos">Agnikul Cosmos</keyword> Pvt Ltd to access the facilities and technical expertise available in <keyword id="116095" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Space-Research-Organisation">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword> (<keyword id="6358064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro">ISRO</keyword>) centres. According to DoS, this is the first NDA to be signed after the establishment of IN-SPACe, the authorization and regulatory body for enabling private players to undertake space activities in India. Under the NDA, Agnikul Cosmos will be enabled to access the facilities and technical expertise available in ISRO centres to proceed with their launch vehicle development programme. The start-up company is located in the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. The NDA was signed in the presence of Space Secretary and ISRO Chairman Dr. K Sivan, and IIT-Madras Director Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi. R. Umamaheswaran, Scientific Secretary, ISRO, was the signatory on behalf of Department of Space for the NDA and Agnikul Cosmos CEO Srinath Ravichandran on behalf of the company. The ISRO officials assured all support to Agnikul Cosmos for testing and qualifying its rocket. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/sbis-mobile-banking-app-is-down-for-the-third-time-in-last-30-days/articleshow/79548953.cms">SBI’s mobile banking app is down for the third time in 30 days — digital services take a hit for the 25th time this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/ultratech-cements-5477-crore-expansion-plan-is-a-sign-that-birla-is-betting-on-a-faster-economic-recovery/articleshow/79549626.cms">UltraTech Cement's ₹5,477 crore expansion plan is a sign that Birla is betting on a faster economic recovery</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/rbi-directs-hdfc-bank-to-suspend-its-digital-business-and-new-credit-cards-amid-rising-incidents-of-outages/articleshow/79542055.cms">RBI tells HDFC Bank to stop new digital launches and selling new credit cards after recent outages of online banking</a>

ISRO gives a rocket building startup access to its facilities

From launch vehicles to <keyword id="41531" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="space" source="Orion">space</keyword> tourism, India's space sector start-ups are set to soar after <keyword id="7537495" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="skyroot-aerospace" source="Orion">Skyroot Aerospace</keyword>'s maiden suborbital flight from the spaceport at Sriharikota on Friday. The Vikram-S rocket, developed over the past two years and built using 3-D printing technology, reached an altitude of 89.5 km. Chennai-based <keyword id="7122982" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="agnikul-cosmos" source="Orion">Agnikul Cosmos</keyword> is set to test its Agnibaan-1 in a suborbital flight sometime next month. "We plan to have the first launch of Agnibaan before the end of this year," Srinath Ravichandra, co-founder of Agnikul, told PTI. Earlier this month, Agnikul received a flight termination system from the <keyword id="119061" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-space-research-organization" source="Orion">Indian Space Research Organization</keyword>, the first-ever such transfer for a launch vehicle developed by the private sector. As <keyword id="9750118" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="skyroot" source="Orion">Skyroot</keyword> and Agnikul focus on launching payloads in <keyword id="13468573" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="orbit" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="orbit" meta.entityname="Orbit Multimedia Ltd." meta.entityid="5254" meta.seoname="orbit-multimedia-ltd">orbit</keyword>, <keyword id="15447669" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="space-aura-aerospace-technology-pvt-ltd" source="Orion">Space Aura Aerospace Technology Pvt Ltd</keyword> and <keyword id="15554246" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="astroborne-space" source="Orion">Astroborne Space</keyword> and <keyword id="222040" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="defence-technologies" source="Orion">Defence Technologies</keyword> are planning forays into space tourism and the development of crew modules and space suits, respectively. "We plan to set up India's first private astronaut training facility soon," Akshat <keyword id="13896424" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mohite" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="mohite" meta.entityname="Mohite Industries Ltd." meta.entityid="5048" meta.seoname="mohite-industries-ltd">Mohite</keyword>, co-founder and CEO of Astroborne Space and Defence Technologies said. "The maiden launch by a new start-up has significantly enhanced the credibility of Indian private space players around the globe. The capability that the sector has been claiming has been demonstrated in Space," <keyword id="12263484" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-space-association" source="Orion">Indian Space Association</keyword> Director-General Lt Gen AK Bhatt told PTI. Bhatt said India's space economy was set to grow to USD 13 billion and the space launch segment was estimated to grow the fastest by 2025. It will be further spurred by growing private participation, the latest technology adoption and the low cost of launch services and this launch is a major landmark for this growth to take place in the coming years, he said. Inspired by Elon Musk's SpaceX, Mumbai-based Space Aura has begun developing a space capsule measuring 10 feet x 8 feet to ferry six tourists and a pilot into space. Space Aura CEO Akash <keyword id="1473207" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="porwal" botkeyword="" source="ET" sourcekeytype="COMPANY" meta.keywordsubtype="EQ" meta.aliasname="porwal" meta.entityname="Porwal Auto Components Ltd." meta.entityid="10373" meta.seoname="porwal-auto-components-ltd">Porwal</keyword> said he planned to have the maiden launch of the space capsule using a high-altitude balloon by 2025. The space capsule will be propelled by a balloon filled with helium or hydrogen gas up to 30 to 35 km above sea level where space tourists can witness the Earth's curvature and the blackness of space for around an hour, Porwal said. The space balloon will be slowly deflated and a parachute unpacked to bring down the spaceship. At a definite point, the space balloon will be detached from the capsule and the tourists brought down safely. Porwal said his company had identified two places in Karnataka and <keyword id="6355554" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="madhya-pradesh" source="Orion">Madhya Pradesh</keyword> from where the flight into space could be launched. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/vikram-s-marks-the-beginning-of-private-venture-in-indian-space-programme-with-maiden-success/articleshow/95598949.cms">Vikram-S marks "The Beginning" of private venture in Indian space programme with maiden success</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/iit-kanpur-researcher-develops-technology-to-turn-acs-into-air-purifiers/articleshow/95601694.cms">IIT Kanpur researcher develops technology to turn ACs into air purifiers</a>

You Searched For "agnikul start up" and got 4 results

Indian space startup Agnikul may be looking outside India to launch its rockets

IANS

Indian start-up is building a three-stage rocket that could be ready to launch by 2022

IANS

ISRO gives a rocket building startup access to its facilities

IANS

From launch vehicles to space tourism, Indian space start-ups aim high

PTI

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides