New Delhi: Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, on Monday, disclosed that he is an investor in space startup Agnikul Cosmos, which last week launched the world’s first rocket with a fully 3D-printed engine.
On Thursday, the rocket Agnibaan SOrTeD (SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator) became India’s first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch that was completely designed and manufactured indigenously.
It was launched from India’s first privately developed launchpad called ‘Dhanush’ established by Agnikul at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at 7:15 a.m. on Thursday. The launch pad is located inside ISRO’s rocket port in Sriharikota.
“You’ll see a rocket lifting off. You’ll also see the talent of young Indians lifting off…,” Anand Mahindra posted on X.com.
“They’re my #MondayMotivation (Disclosure: I’m an investor in @AgnikulCosmos),” he added.
Agnibaan is a two-stage rocket with a capacity to carry up to 300 kg to a height of 700 km. The rocket engines are powered by liquid oxygen/kerosene.
In a post on X, Agnikul Cosmos, a startup incubated at the IIT Madras, revealed that the Agnibaan SOrTeD vehicle “works on data acquisition systems and flight computers that were 100 per cent designed in-house.”
The flight was a “controlled ascent with full 3-axis control” with a “fully developed and designed in-house” autopilot, said the company, noting that the burn time took 65 seconds as expected.
Further, Agnibaan was also the “first launch from India driven by computers working on Linux; by an ethernet-based architecture for connecting flight computers within the vehicle.”
The rocket was also the first to fly “with aviation-grade jet fuel and industrial-grade liquid oxygen,” the company said.
Agnikul Cosmos is expected to launch an orbital mission by 2025.
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