Agnibaan
Agnibaan is a three-stage small-lift launch system currently under development, produced by AgniKul Cosmos in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is capable of placing a 100 kg satellite into a 700 km orbit. The rocket will be 18 meters long with a diameter of 1.3 meters and a lift-off mass of 14,000 kg. The first stage is powered by seven Agnilet engines. The second stage is powered by the same Agnilet engine which will have a larger nozzle than the sea level nozzle to optimize it for vacuum.
Design
Engines
Agnibaan will use clustered engines in various configurations in the first stage, depending on the payload. It will also use a vacuum optimized version of the Agnilet in the second stage. These engines use liquid oxygen and kerosene as the oxidizer and fuel. The first stage of the Agnibaan is powered by 7 Agnilet engines, each with a thrust of 25 kN at sea level.These are all electric-pump-fed engines allowing for simplified engine design and highly configurable engine clustering architectures. It is capable of operating with a specific impulse of 285 seconds at sea level. The entire combustion section is a single-piece assembly and is fully 3D printed. The second stage of the vehicle also uses an Agnilet engine optimized for vacuum use. It is thought to deliver up to 355 seconds of specific impulse in vacuum environment. An optional third stage sits inside the payload fairing.
Launch site
Agnibaan is intended to be built with the capability to launch from multiple launch ports across the world. The launch pad "Dhanush", the first private launch pad and mission control center in India at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, was inaugurated on 28 November 2022 and is designed to support all configurations of Agnibaan with reusability in mind. Dimensions of Dhanush are designed with road dimensions and global transportability restrictions in mind.The launchpad and the mission control center are 4 km apart from one another. The launchpad currently has the capability to accommodate liquid stage launch vehicles. The pad has received the name Dhanush and referred as ALP-01. All the critical systems performing functions at Agnikul launchpad and the Agnikul mission control center have high degree of redundancy to ensure 100% operationality, although none of these systems have been tested so far. ISRO's range operations team will monitor key flight safety parameters during launches from ALP while AMCC can share critical data with ISRO's Mission Control Center. Both the facilities have support of ISRO and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre.
Schedule
The company previously aimed to develop and launch its first rocket in 2021. A non-disclosure agreement was signed with the Department of Space to obtain the government's technological assistance in the development of launch vehicles on 3 December 2020. However, the company entered into an agreement with Alaska Aerospace Corporation to launch a rocket from Kodiak Launch Complex as a commercial launch pad to test the rocket as the launch pad was not available for use in India. "We are planning to test launch our rocket Agnibaan before 2022 end. Our plan is to launch the rocket from a mobile launch pad. The test launch will happen from India's spaceport Sriharikota belonging to ISRO", said Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder and CEO, AgniKul Cosmos. No orbital rocket was launched in 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025. Agnibaan SOrTeD, a single stage suborbital technical demonstration rocket was launched on 30 May 2024.Launch history
Test variant
A test flight of single-stage version of the rocket, Agnibaan SOrTeD, successfully flew on a suborbital mission on 30 May 2024 from SDSC, after being postponed several times due to many issues.| S.No | Date / time | Rocket, Configuration | Launch site | Payload | Orbit | Customer | Status | Note |
| 1. | 30 May 2024 / 07:15 | Agnibaan SOrTeD | SDSC ALP |  N/ASuccessAgnibaanRockets of similar class |