Agnikul Cosmos opened India’s first rocket engine factory in Chennai

Space tech startup, Agnikul Cosmos has inaugurated India’s first-ever factory to manufacture 3D-printed rocket engines in Chennai. The facility will use additive manufacturing technology to build 3D printed rocket engines and will be used to produce engines for its own in-house rockets. It was unveiled by Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and ISRO chairman S Somanath in the presence of Pawan Goenka, the chairman of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre).

The company facility will use additive manufacturing technology to build 3D printed rocket engines and will be used to produce engines for its own in-house rockets. This will allow the factory to produce eight engines every month and build the number of engines required to launch Agnibaan – its two-stage launch vehicle, expected to launch by the end of the year.

Dimension of the rocket engines:

• The 10,000-square-foot facility is located at IIT-Madras Research Park. It will have a 400mm x 400mm x 400mm metal 3D printer from EOS that will enable end-to-end manufacturing of a rocket engine under one roof.
• The manufacturing facility has the capacity to make two rocket engines per week and thereby one launch vehicle every month.

About the Agnikul:

Agnikul was founded in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM and SR Chakravarthy (professor of IIT-Madras). In December 2020, Agnikul signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under the IN-SPACe initiative to have access to the space agency’s expertise and its facilities to build rocket engines.