Indian spacetech startups developing quality tech products at a much lower cost: Agnikul

Agnikul Cosmos, an IIT Madras-based spacetech startup, is making waves in the space technology field as the company unveils its full-scale second-stage rocket engine, Agnilet. This is world's first single-piece 3D printed engine, which is fully designed and manufactured in India. The spacetech startup had entered into an agreement last year with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under the IN-SPACe initiative to have access to the space agency's expertise and its facilities to build rocket engines. The startup is building launch vehicles that can carry micro and nano satellites to low earth orbit on demand. In a conversation with the Bizz Buzz, Agnikul's co-founders Srinath Ravichandran and Moin SPM said that domestic spacetech startups are complementing the capabilities of ISRO. The company, which has raised $11 million recently, also said that Indian companies are developing tech products at a much lesser cost than their global counterparts

Agnikul has recently unveiled its full-scale second-stage rocket engine, Agnilet, at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) and at the World Expo in Dubai. This is world's first single-piece 3D printed engine fully designed and manufactured in India. Can you throw some light on this new indigenous engine? What are your plans with regard to this new engine?

I will first say the edge we have over the companies across the world. What we have done is we have developed a single piece 3-D printed engine. Generally, companies across the world are doing 3D printing of various parts and they assemble it together. In our case, the entire engine with its functionality has been 3D printed at one shot. This is the kind of technology that we have developed inhouse. It is matter of pride for us and for the country that an Indian company has developed an engine that is completely single piece 3D printed. Because we have gone to the finite level of 3D technology and that is being incorporated in space itself.

You have also tested this engine. How soon can we expect commercialisation of this engine?

Yes, we have tested engine inhouse. It has worked amazingly just like our other engines. The best part is that we are able to produce a fully working engine in 3D. That's the kind of time we have used to optimise and made sure that we have a rocket engine in our hands. This is a proprietary technology that has been developed inhouse. As far as collaboration with ISRO (The Indian Space Research Organisation) is concerned, we will be more than happy to complement ISRO at any level.

Investment requirement in the space technology startups is usually high. How do you see the investors' interest in space startups?

When we started, the appetite of investors to invest in deep tech ecosystem was quite low. Because the time required to build the hardware and take the product to the market is higher. Investors were also not aware that such ecosystem was growing. Once quality startups started to show quality output and products, people have started investing in them. This has happened because people have begun to see many startups in the western world growing in the space technology space. If anything can happen in the west, it can also happen in India. Also, we are already a space-faring nation with a heritage of more than 50 years. Building it in India is quite possible and investors can also see light at the end of the tunnel. Moreover, there is a lot of support from the government. For instance the establishment of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Center (IN-SPACe) - an independent body constituted by the Government of India, under the Department of Space (DOS)- enable the change the investors' mindset on the space technology.

Agnikul has entered into partnership with IN-SPACe last year to develop launch vehicles. How is it progressing so far?

That has been really helpful. We are sharing our requirements and receiving the responses as per our requirement. It is really amazing to see that kind of response.

India is one of those select league of nations with developed space technology capabilities. It has also embarked upon an ambitious Gaganyaan mission as part of which the country intends to send Indian astronauts to moon. Against this backdrop, how are the spacetech startups complementing India's space technology capabilities?

The pathway and the goal have already been set. The technology required for the moon mission is also certified. If we are requested to anyway complement these efforts, we will be more than happy and obliged to part these efforts. This, in a way, give a scope for the private companies and startups to work on the space technology space.

Also, we have seen a lot of space enthusiasts (like Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos & Founder of Virgin Group, Richard Branson) going to space. So, one thing coming out of these events is that space tourism is going to be the next big thing. We also hope that in the next 20 years, this can emerge as a transportation system by itself where a person can travel from the US to India, may be in 10 minutes. If we have reliable launch vehicles, we should be able to go across the world. But this to happen, you need reliability of launch vehicles. This is where the entire technology is heading towards.

Agnikul Cosmos has recently raised $11 million in a series A round, which is the single largest funding round raised by any private Indian space tech company. How do you see your funding requirements going ahead?

This industry is capital intensive. But we do it at a scale of 1/10th (of cost), compared to the rest of the world. The resources in India are quite capable of building rockets. We don't have to import anything to work in this space industry because ISRO itself has built a robust ecosystem with regard to vendors. Yes, it is capital intensive but compared to the world, it is ten times lesser. So, as compared to global startups which raise a lot of money, this kind of money is adequate for developing a dedicated product.