Chennai-Based Agnikul Signs Agreement With DoS; Will Get Opportunity To Work With Various ISRO Centers Under the agreement, Agnikul will be able to work with various ISRO centers to get access to technical information and facilities necessary to go forward with their launch vehicle development
By Debarghya Sil •
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Chennai based Agnikul Cosmos, a start-up involved in building the country's first private small satellite launch vehicle, on Friday announced to have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the department of space (DoS) under the newly proposed IN-SPACe entity.
Under the agreement, Agnikul will be able to work with various ISRO centers to get access to technical information and facilities necessary to go forward with their launch vehicle development. This is a significant step by the DoS in mentoring private players to enable them to collaborate with ISRO.
"We encourage new players such as Agnikul to explore disruptive technologies and break away from the conventional methods of manufacturing launch vehicles.", said Dr K. Sivan, secretary, DoS and chairman ISRO.
The directors of various ISRO centers assured their full support and mentorship in helping Agnikul progress towards its vision. All the centres wished to see a launch happen as soon as 2022.
"It is a happy day for our country, and we are eager to extend our support to Agnikul as they progress along in their journey" said R. Umamaheswaran, scientific secretary and chair of the interim IN-SPACe empowered committee.
Commenting on this development, Srinath Ravichandran, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Agnikul Cosmos said, "ISRO's support to startups at an early stage is a strong sense of encouragement for all of us in India who are looking to build Space technology in India."
The IIT Madras-based startup has built a satellite vehicle - Agnibaan - a rocket that will be capable of carrying up to 100 kg of payload to low Earth orbits up to 700 km with a plug-and-play engine configuration.
"This is going to be a "Made-in-India-for-the-world" solution and we are proud to be doing our humble parts in enhancing India's self-reliance in space tech as a part of India's AatmaNirbharBharat vision," added Moin SPM, co-founder of Agnikul.
