An Indian Space Start based out of Chennai has successfully 3D printed Rocket engines that are tough to build, and they’re even tougher to 3D print as all the details have to be precise and perfect for the rocket to work successfully. This startup has successfully tested a 3D printed rocket engine.
Agnikul Cosmos, the start responsible for this successful test has fired its higher stage semi-cryogenic rocket engine called Agnilet. Srinath Ravichandran, the CEO and Co-founder said, “This entire engine, Agnilet, is just one piece of hardware from start to finish and has zero assembled parts,”
Under normal circumstances, a rocket engine has a variety of parts to be built individually and are finally assembled together. However, Agnilet, on the other hand, is a three-in-one solution i.e. all three of these modules are inserted into a single piece of hardware. The turnaround time for the entire setup is less than four days as assembling this rocket isn’t that complicated. This rocket engine is capable of carrying upto 100 kilos to low earth orbit (LEO), which is approximately 700 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.
However, Agnikul may be the first to be successful, but it’s not alone. Another space startup which is a Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace founded by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka. In September 2020 revealed their fully 3D printer cryogenic rocket engine dubbed Dhawan-I.
