Space start-up Agnikul calls off launch of Agnibaan sub-orbital rocket for 3rd time
New Delhi: Chennai-based space start-up Agnikul Cosmos on Sunday called off the maiden launch of its 3D-printed, semi-cryogenic Agnibaan rocket about 129 seconds before lift-off citing communication in the onboard hardware. Sunday's was the third attempt at the test launch of the Agnibaan Sub-Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD) since March 22, when the test flight was first scheduled to be held at the Agnikul Launch Pad at ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. The second attempt at the test launch at 7.50 a.m.
on Saturday also could not fructify. On Sunday, the Agnibaan SOrTeD launch was scheduled at 5.30 am but was put off to 7.50 a.m. "Had to call off today's launch attempt of Agnibaan SOrTeD just a second into Automated Launch Sequence (ALS) initiation (at T-129 seconds) because of a communication issue between two of our onboard hardware," the Chennai-based start-up said.
ALSO READ: Indian space start-up Agnikul raises additional $27 million to launch its first rocket "Although it is frustrating to see a HOLD this close to lift off, we are glad that our ALS did its job. We will get to the root cause and come back for launch after fixing the cause," Agnikul said on X. Agnikul is seeking to conduct India's second private rocket launch, following startup Skyroot Aerospace's November 2022 launch of the Vikram-S sub-orbital rocket.
Agnibaan is a customisable, two-stage launch vehicle that can carry a payload of up to 300 kg into orbit of about 700 km, according to the company. The rocket uses a semi-cryogenic engine with a mix of liquid and gas propellants, a technology that is yet to be demonstrated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in any of its rockets. The SOrTeD mission is a
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