Agnikul Cosmos Opens Facilities to Test Reusable Rocket Stages Under Flight-Like Conditions

Agnikul Cosmos has inaugurated two facilities at its assembly and testing facility in Chennai to test reusable rocket stages under flight-like conditions and manufacture high-pressure composite overwrapped pressure vessels in-house, as the company prepares for its upcoming Mission-02.

Mission-02 will attempt India’s first recovery of an orbital-class rocket booster and repurpose the rocket’s upper stage into an in-orbit platform, making it Agnikul’s first reusable launch mission.

The Stage Testing & Inspection Facility (STIF) and the Pressurant Tank Realisation, Over-wrapping and Outfitting Facility (PROOF) were inaugurated in the presence of Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and the astronaut selected for the Gaganyaan Mission.

STIF is designed to test complete rocket stages with integrated propulsion and avionics. It supports thrust levels from 1 kN to 200 kN, LOX sub-cooling down to 73 K and full-duration burns of up to 150 seconds. The facility will also be used to inspect and requalify recovered stages after 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,” said Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO, Agnikul Cosmos.

The facility can test stages powered by clusters of Agnikul’s single-piece, semi-cryogenic, electric pump-fed 3D-printed engines. The company said STIF will support a repeatable cycle of building, testing, flying, recovering, inspecting, requalifying and flying stages again.

PROOF, meanwhile, brings the manufacturing of 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 pressures of up to 350 bar.

“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 two facilities expand Agnikul’s in-house capabilities across propulsion and avionics development, component manufacturing, stage-level testing and recovery operations. The company said the infrastructure will support its transition from individual launch missions to a higher-cadence launch model.

Headquartered in Chennai and incubated at IIT Madras, Agnikul Cosmos develops the Agnibaan family of configurable small-lift launch vehicles. In May 2024, it conducted Mission 01, Agnibaan SOrTeD, from its privately built launchpad at Sriharikota.

“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,” said Shukla. 

Agnikul already designs and manufactures its single-piece, 3D-printed semi-cryogenic engines in-house and develops its avionics and other propulsion and vehicle systems.

The company’s Mission-01, launched on May 30, 2024, demonstrated a controlled ascent using its single-piece 3D-printed engine and in-house autopilot architecture.