The little SpaceX that came to Chennai..?
Many sectors are developing globally, especially in the fields of space travel and rocket production, private companies have emerged more and more and created a new path beyond the government companies. One such company formed in india is AgniKul Cosmos. Today, as communication and internet services are increasing day by day, the demands of companies are increasing.
Amidst this demand and service lies a large segment of price, which is the basis for a new business opportunity for AgniKul Cosmos. AgniKul cosmos on wednesday opened the country's first private factory exclusively for building rocket engines in Chennai. The factory was inaugurated by Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran and isro Chairman and Space Secretary S Somanath.
AgniKul cosmos is planning to use additive manufacturing technology at its chennai factory to manufacture rocket engines for space travel through 3D printing. Apart from supplying the rocket engines manufactured at this exclusive and in-house factory to other organizations and companies, AgniKul cosmos will also use them to manufacture engines for its own rockets, the company said.
AgniKul cosmos CEO Srinath Ravichandran said the chennai factory can build two new rocket engines every week. It can produce eight engines every month. It is also expected that the production of the engines required for the launch of Agnibaan will start by the end of the year.Agnibaan is lighter and more capable than ISRO's lightweight rockets. Normally ISRO's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) carries a payload of 300 kg, but Agnibaan will launch satellites into low Earth orbits (LEOs) with a payload of just 100 kg.
While the business of installing satellites in low Earth orbits (LEOs) is increasing among satellite internet operators, space sensing, and earth observation technology startups, each time isro and russia find it difficult to help, while incurring an exorbitant amount of money.
It is through this gap that Agnikul cosmos has created a new business in the private sector. A rocket engine manufacturing plant using many of these critical technologies is the jackpot that has come to Chennai.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is doing the same. SpaceX has 4 engines namely Merlin, Kestrel, Draco, and SuperDraco. Similarly, SpaceX has two launch vehicles, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, just like Agniban. But compared to AgniKul cosmos, SpaceX is many times more in terms of capacity, weight, and distance.