Chennai Start-up Inks Agreement with ISRO to Develop Launch Vehicle

The Department of Space has signed an agreement with Agnikul Cosmos, an IIT Madras-based launch vehicle start-up, under Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center, enabling them to work closely with the Indian Space Research Organization to help develop a launch vehicle.

They are the first company to sign an agreement with ISRO under the newly proposed IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center) entity.

They will work with various Isro centres to get access to technical information and facilities necessary for the launch vehicle development.

They are building India’s first private small satellite launch vehicle called Agnibaan, which will be capable of carrying up to 100 kg of payload to low Earth orbits up to 700 km with a plug-and-play engine configuration.

Mr. K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO, said,

“We encourage new players such as Agnikul to explore disruptive technologies and break away from the conventional methods of manufacturing launch vehicles.”

The directors of various Isro centres assured their full support and mentorship to Agnikul. All centres were appreciative of Agnikul’s effort and dedication, including the new technologies it is working on, and wished to see a launch as soon as 2022.

Mr. Srinath Ravichandran, CEO and co-founder, Agnikul Cosmos, said,

“Isro’s support to start-ups at an early stage is a strong sense of encouragement for all of us who are looking to build space technology in India. The chairman of Isro mentioned in July 2020, right after the IN-SPACe announcement, that private players will be encouraged by Isro even before the official establishment of IN-SPACe, and we are seeing that it came true today. It is an unforgettable moment for all of us at Agnikul to be the first player in the country to be signing such an agreement.”