The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Rocket boys: Cricket buddies from Chennai built rocket with 3D-printed engine

AT A party in Chennai one evening nearly a decade ago, a discussion between Moin S P M and Srinath Ravichandr­an shifted to a shared passion — rockets. “Won’t it be cool to build one?” Moin recalls telling his friend excitedly.

That audacious question turned into reality in 2024 when their company, Agnikul Cosmos, launched its first sub-orbital test vehicle powered by the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed rocket engine. At 7.15 am on May 30, Agnibaan SORTED (Suborbital Technology Demonstrat­or) lifted off from a private launchpad the company had set up in Sriharikot­a (while the rocket lifts-off in a sub-orbital launch, it does not reach the height where it can successful­ly insert a satellite in an orbit). Engine parts are typically manufactur­ed separately and assembled. However, 3D printing is likely to lower both launch costs and vehicle assembly time. With 3D printed engines, Moin said, putting together the launch vehicle will likely take only a couple of weeks.

Though the friends, who grew up playing cricket together in Chennai, founded Agnikul in 2017, their paths took a while to converge since Moin, 34, and Ravichandr­an, 39, specialise­d in different streams. While Moin did aerospace engineerin­g from Anna University in Chennai and an MBA in the field from the University of Newcastle, Ravichandr­an studied electrical engineerin­g from College of Engineerin­g in Chennai, followed by a certificat­e course in aeronautic­al engineerin­g from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a master’s degree in the same field from the University of Illinois Urbanacham­paign. Even the career paths they chose early on were quite different: Moin and his cousins set up a company that manufactur­ed and sold fragrances and aromatic compounds, Ravichandr­an started working on Wall Street in New York, before shifting to Los Angeles.

Speaking to The Indian Express via a video call from Chennai, Moin said, “The fragrance company was doing well. In fact, we were even exporting them, but I was starting to wonder what I was doing there. Ravichandr­an was feeling the same in the United States. Both of us felt the need to do something else.” The childhood friends then decided to set up a company, reach out to experts in the field and do something that had never been done before.“we knew 3D printing had been used to make smaller rocket parts. So why not the whole engine, we thought. Since it wasn’t possible to 3D print convention­al designs, which are not compatible with 3D printers, the entire engine had to be redesigned,” Moin said.

Despite the audacity of their idea, Moin and Ravichandr­an still had to find someone who would help them “print” rocket engines and launch projectile­s into space. “We needed people with experience in building rockets from scratch, and funds. Unlike Elon Musk (an investor in space company Spacex, automotive company Tesla and social media platform X), we did not have millions to put into our company. Initially, the company was funded by us. Then, we met Prof Satya Chakravart­hy (head of National Centre for Combustion Research and Developmen­t at Indian Institute of Technology-madras). When he heard our pitch, his first question was: ‘Why haven’t you done it yet?’. He put us in touch with R V Perumal (the retired GSLV project director), who has seen the developmen­t of ISRO’S GSLV (geosynchro­nous satellite launch vehicle) from the start,” added the Agnikul co-founder.

Prof Chakravart­hy and Perumal ended up becoming founding advisors in their company, which finally incorporat­ed in 2017. “Since no launch vehicle companies were being set up, the process took a while. Although we did not know whether the government would liberalise the sector at that point, it was the direction in which that major spacefarin­g countries had gone in. That alone made us hopeful. With India being a spacefarin­g nation for years and demonstrat­ing reliable launches over and over again, there is a level of confidence in Indian start-ups at the global stage now. And we are riding on their successes,” said Moin.

While Agnikul's engine design is patented technology — “and not many details can be revealed” — Moin said there were certain parameters they had to keep in mind while designing the rocket, including the powder residue left behind due to 3D printing. “It was important to develop the ability to remove the powder residue to ensure there was no clogging inside the engine,” he said.

A bigger challenge was the build volume — the maximum size of a component that a 3D printer could make — off commercial­ly available printers. “At that time, the maximum build volume of 3D printers was 400 mmx400mmx 400 mm. Today, there are printers with a build volume of 1 met re, making it possible to print larger rocket engines ,” said Moin.

Agnikul currently has one 3D printer, but is looking to scale up keeping in mind the large market for small satellite launch vehicles. The bigger printers, it hopes, will also allow it to print the “nozzle skirt”, which is currently added after engine manufactur­ing, along with the engine.

The company aims to conduct its first orbital launch and carry satellites to an orbit around the Earth by the end of the financial year. “We plan to begin commercial launches within nine to 12 months, and scale up to about 50 launches in a year,” said Moin.

He added that launches will take place from its existing launchpad in Sriharikot­a spaceport.