Agnikul Cosmos inaugurates new testing and manufacturing units at Chennai facility

Spacetech startup Agnikul Cosmos has inaugurated two new units at its Assembly & Testing Facility in Chennai. The units include the Stage Testing & Inspection Facility (STIF) and the Pressurant Tank Realization, Over-wrapping and Outfitting Facility (PROOF).

PROOF will enable the in-house manufacturing of pressure vessels- the rocket component that holds gases or liquids at a pressure significantly different from the outside environment. The new facility can produce more than 10 vessels a month, including vessels of up to 3,500 litres and 350 bar.

“The vision of bringing reusability to launch requires us to think beyond a single flight and build the capability to test, recover, inspect and prepare a stage for its next flight. STIF gives us the ability to test complete stages for the duration of their mission and inspect and requalify recovered stages.

PROOF takes us another step towards end-to-end in-house quality control,” said Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO, Agnikul Cosmos. Famed Indian astronaut and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla inaugurated the facilities.

“India’s space programme is entering an exciting phase, with capabilities being built across the country that will enable increasingly ambitious missions. It is encouraging to see Agnikul continue to expand its capabilities in advanced manufacturing and testing,” Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla said.