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.

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.