Agnibaan: Space startup Agnikul Cosmos successfully launches Agnibaan SORTED-01, ISRO congratulates
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday said that space startup Agnikul Cosmos has successfully launched the Agnibaan (Suborbital Tech Demonstrator) SORTED-01 mission from its launch pad in Sriharikota. ISRO also congratulated Agnikul Cosmos for the achievement, calling the launch ‘a major milestone’.
The Prime Minister said, “Congratulations to Agnikul Cosmos for the successful launch from the launch pad of the Agnibaan SORTED-01 mission. This engine test is powered by Agnikul’s own data acquisition systems and flight computers, which were 100 percent designed in-house. Additionally, the test also proves the ability of the SOrTeD vehicle’s entire avionics chain to control the vehicle’s entire propulsion system. Capable of carrying up to 300 kg to approximately 700 km high orbits, Agnibaan can reach both low and high inclination orbits and is fully mobile. It is designed to reach more than 10 launch ports.
Powered by LOX/Kerosene engines in all its stages, Agnibaan is customer-configurable. The mission, satellite and launch port will decide how many engines will go into the first stage. Union Minister Rajiv Chandrashekhar congratulated Agnikul Cosmos for successfully completing its maiden launch from Agnikul’s own and India’s only private launchpad within the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota.
In a spectacular display of valor in the year 2023, India touched new heights with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the Moon and the successful launch of India’s first solar mission Aditya-L1. These milestones not only secured India’s position in the global space economy but also fueled the engines for the private space sector in India. India now aims to set up an ‘Indian Space Station’ by 2035 and send the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.
