PRIVATE SPACE VEHICLE - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
News: Agnikul
Cosmos sets up India’s first private space vehicle launchpad at Sriharikota
What's in the news?
● Chennai
headquartered space-tech start-up Agnikul, has set up India’s first-ever
launchpad that will be operated by a private player, at Sriharikota.
● The
facility was inaugurated by S. Somanath, chairman, Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary, Department of Space, recently.
Key takeaways:
● The
facility, which was designed by Agnikul and executed in support with ISRO and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and
Authorization Center) has two sections to it: the Agnikul launchpad (ALP) and
the Agnikul mission control center (AMCC).
● All
critical systems connecting these two sections, which are 4 km away from each
other, are redundant to ensure 100% operationality during countdown.
● The
launchpad is specifically built keeping in mind the necessity to support liquid stage controlled launches,
while also addressing the need for ISRO’s range operations team to monitor key
flight safety parameters during launches. Additionally, it has the ability to,
as necessary, share data and other critical information with ISRO’s Mission Control Center.
Agnikul's First launch:
● Agnikul’s
first launch, which will be a controlled and guided mission, a vertical launch,
using its patented engine will happen from this launchpad.
● The
mission will be a technology demonstrator that will mirror Agnikul’s orbital
launch but at a reduced scale.
● Agnibaan
and Agnilet will be used in the Agnikul’s first launch.
Agnibaan:
● Agnibaan
is Agnikul’s highly customizable, two-stage
launch vehicle, capable of taking up to 100 kg payload to orbits around 700
km high (low Earth orbits) and
enables plug-and-play configuration.
Agnilet:
● Agnilet
is the world’s first single-piece 3-D
printed engine fully designed and manufactured in India and was
successfully test-fired in early 2021, making Agnikul the first company in the
country to test its engines at ISRO.
Agnikul - Backdrop:
● Founded
in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM and Professor S.R. Chakravarthy from IIT Madras, Agnikul is an IIT Madras
incubated startup.
● It
became the first Indian company to sign an agreement with ISRO in December
2020.
● The
agreement signed under the IN-SPACe initiative sanctioned Agnikul access to the
Indian space agency’s expertise and facilities to build Agnibaan and its
launchpads.
IN-SPACe - Backdrop:
● IN-SPACe
was conceived in June 2020 following the Central government’s decision to open
up the space sector and enable the participation of Indian private sector in
the gamut of space activities.
● It
acts as a single-window, independent,
nodal agency which functions as an autonomous agency in the Department of
Space.