Agnikul Cosmos has become the world’s first company to successfully test a fully 3D printed rocket engine. It only takes four days to produce and can carry payloads of upto 100 kilos into lower earth orbit (LEO).

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While the first company to be successful in such an endeavour, there are others who are fast catching up and realise the value of 3D printed engines versus conventional assembly. Rocket engines are tough to build, and they’re even tougher to 3D print because all the details have to be ‘just right’ for the rocket to work successfully.

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But, an Indian space startup based out of Chennai has pulled off this mammothian task. Agnikul Cosmos has successfully fired its higher stage semi-cryogenic rocket engine called Agnilet. “This entire engine, Agnilet, is just one piece of hardware from start to finish and has zero assembled parts,” said co-founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran. Normally, rocket engines have 100s of different parts that have to be built individually. This includes things like injectors which inject fuel into the engine, cooling channels that ensure the engine doesn’t overheat and the […]

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