Chennai: Agnikul Cosmos has expanded its infrastructure for reusable rocket development with the inauguration of two new facilities at its Assembly & Testing Facility in Chennai.
The new units are designed to enable testing of complete rocket stages under flight-like operating conditions and strengthen the company’s in-house manufacturing capabilities ahead of Mission-02.
The Stage Testing & Inspection Facility (STIF) and the Pressurant Tank Realization, Over-wrapping and Outfitting Facility (PROOF) were inaugurated in the presence of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Gaganyaan astronaut.
The new infrastructure is intended to support Agnikul Cosmos’ transition from single-mission launches towards a higher-cadence model, while building capabilities required for the development and operation of a reusable rocket.
Agnikul said the facilities position it among a small set of global companies working towards full-stack reusable launch capability and make it the only Indian private space company with in-house post-flight requalification infrastructure.
STIF to Enable Full-Stage Testing of Reusable Rocket Systems
The Stage Testing & Inspection Facility (STIF) has been designed and fabricated entirely in-house by Agnikul Cosmos. The facility is intended to test reusable rocket stages under flight-like operating conditions, including with propulsion and avionics integrated.
STIF supports full-stage testing involving clusters of Agnikul’s patented, single-piece, semi-cryogenic, electric pump-fed 3D-printed engines.
The facility supports thrust levels ranging from 1 kN to 200 kN, LOX sub-cooling down to 73 K and full-duration burns of up to 150 seconds.
A key capability of STIF is its support for post-flight inspection and requalification of recovered stages. This is designed to provide the infrastructure needed for a repeatable build, test, fly, recover, inspect, requalify and fly-again cycle for reusable rocket launch vehicles.
According to Agnikul, this capability is essential for building a truly reusable launch system.
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PROOF Brings Composite Pressure Vessel Manufacturing In-House
The Pressurant Tank Realization, Over-wrapping and Outfitting Facility (PROOF) will enable Agnikul Cosmos to manufacture high-pressure composite overwrapped pressure vessels in-house.
The facility can produce more than 10 vessels a month, including vessels with capacities of up to 3,500 litres and pressure ratings of up to 350 bar.
By bringing vessel manufacturing in-house, Agnikul said it will have greater control over the complete manufacturing process while reducing external dependencies and enabling faster iteration and production turnaround.
Together, STIF and PROOF expand Agnikul’s vertically integrated capabilities for reusable rocket development, covering propulsion and avionics development, component manufacturing, stage testing and recovery operations.
Shubhanshu Shukla Inaugurates Agnikul Facilities
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who inaugurated the new facilities, highlighted the development of advanced capabilities across India’s space sector.
“India’s space programme is entering an exciting phase, with capabilities being built across the country that will enable increasingly ambitious missions. It is encouraging to see Agnikul continue to expand its capabilities in advanced manufacturing and testing.
The emergence of such capabilities across the industry will play an important role in building a deeper and more self-reliant space ecosystem for India” said Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla.
The inauguration comes as Agnikul Cosmos continues to build infrastructure supporting its reusable rocket ambitions and Mission-02.
Agnikul Says STIF Supports Reusability Goals
Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO, Agnikul Cosmos, said the development of a reusable launch system requires capabilities extending beyond a single flight.
“The vision of bringing reusability to launch requires us to think beyond a single flight and build the capability to test, recover, inspect and prepare a stage for its next flight.
STIF gives us the ability to test complete stages for the duration of their mission and inspect and requalify recovered stages. This is an important capability as we work towards Mission-02. PROOF takes us another step towards end-to-end in-house quality control.
Having Group Captain Shukla, who has flown to space, inaugurate these facilities is a dream come true for all of us at Agnikul,” said Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO, Agnikul Cosmos.
Ravichandran said STIF will allow the company to test complete stages for the duration of their mission and subsequently inspect and requalify recovered stages, strengthening the infrastructure required for reusable rocket operations.
New Facilities to Support Higher Launch Cadence
Moin SPM, Co-founder and COO, Agnikul Cosmos, said the two facilities bring critical capabilities for vehicle recovery and manufacturing operations in-house.
“STIF and PROOF bring critical capabilities for our vehicle recovery and manufacturing operations in-house. The ability to manufacture high-pressure composite overwrapped vessels at production scale gives us greater control over the process, quality and turnaround time.
This capability, along with the stage-level testing facility, will be important as we expand our manufacturing capacity and build towards a higher launch cadence,” said Moin SPM, Co-founder and COO, Agnikul Cosmos.
The facilities are therefore intended to strengthen the company’s manufacturing and testing capabilities as it works towards a higher launch cadence for its reusable rocket development programme.
Agnikul’s Existing In-House Space Infrastructure
The new facilities add to Agnikul Cosmos’ growing in-house manufacturing, testing and launch infrastructure.
The company already designs and manufactures its single-piece, 3D-printed semi-cryogenic engines in-house. It is also developing its avionics and other propulsion and vehicle systems.
Agnikul’s Mission-01 was launched on 30 May 2024 and successfully demonstrated a controlled ascent using its single-piece 3D-printed engine and in-house autopilot architecture.
With the addition of STIF and PROOF, Agnikul is extending its in-house approach beyond individual propulsion and vehicle components to include stage testing, recovery assessment and critical composite overwrapped vessel manufacturing.
The expanded infrastructure is aimed at supporting the company’s development of a reusable rocket system and strengthening capabilities across the build, testing, recovery, inspection and requalification stages of launch vehicle operations.
