Agnikul Cosmos, co-founded by graduates of IIT Madras — Srinath Ravichandran and Moin SPM, is re-imagining how satellites travel to space.
While on one hand, satellites are shrinking really fast, rockets are not. Given that the rocket’s size continues to be large, satellites are almost forced to do a ride share within these big rockets. This is how Agnikul Cosmos came into being with the dream of becoming India’s first private player to launch satellites in space.
“Today, if you have to go to space, you are one person so you need to take a train. You have to wait for the train to fill up. What we are trying to do is build a cab,” says Srinath Ravichandran, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.
Agnikul, which was co-founded by Srinath and Moin SPM, is working on developing small rockets that can carry a payload of up to 100 kg into space. In 2017, the duo set out to combine rocket technology with 3D printing. By doing this they were trying to make travel to outer space a reality.
In 2021, an entire rocket engine was 3D-printed as one single block in 72 hours. A record in itself. Agnilet was successfully test-fired thereby becoming India’s first single-piece 3D printed engine.
Watch these IIT alumni’s inspiring work here:
(Edited by Yoshita Rao)
