Agnibaan Suborbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD)

• Context (TH): Chennai-based space startup Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited is set to launch its first rocket, the Agnibaan Suborbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD).
• The launch will take place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
• Agnibaan SOrTeD is a demonstration mission aimed at showcasing the technology and capabilities of the rocket.
• This is a sub-orbital launch and it is not a sound rocket.

Highlights of the Agnibaan SOrTeD

• India’s first launch from a private launchpad.
• India’s first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch.
• The world’s first launch of a rocket with a single-piece 3D printed engine, designed and built locally.
• India’s first liquid oxygen-kerosene rocket flight.
• Agnikul’s rocket is the second privately developed rocket in India.

Vikram-S was the India’s first privately developed rocket. Developed by the Hyderabad-based start-up Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited. This mission was titled Prarambh.

About Agnikul Cosmos

• It was founded in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and Satya Chakravarthy.
• It became the first company in India to sign an agreement with ISRO under the IN-SPACe initiative in December 2020.
• AgniKul Cosmos Private Limited was incubated out of National Centre for Combustion R&D of IIT Madras.

Sub-orbital launch refers to vehicles that travel high enough to reach the edge of outer space but do not have the energy to achieve orbit. Typically, these vehicles reach a maximum speed of about 2 – 6 times the speed of sound. Orbital spacecraft should travel about 25 times the speed of sound to orbit the Earth without falling back due to gravity. Significance of Sub-orbital launch: Space Tourism, Film & Television, Surveillance etc., Sounding Rocket means a rocket used especially to obtain information concerning atmospheric conditions at various altitudes. They carry scientific instruments into space.