Why in news? AgniKul Cosmos, a start-up incubated at IIT Madras, has launched the world’s first single-piece 3D printed rocket engine, designed and built indigenously in the country. With assistance from ISRO, the startup successfully carried out a sub-orbital test-flight of its home-built rocket — Agnibaan —from Sriharikota.
What’s in today’s article?
3D printing
- About
- 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of creating three-dimensional objects from digital models by adding material layer by layer.
- It is an additive process, in which layers of a material like plastic, composites or bio-materials are built up to construct objects that range in shape, size, rigidity and colour.
- This process allows for more efficient and customized production compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing methods.
- Some of the notable examples of 3D printing
- 3D printing is being used in a host of different industries like healthcare, automobile and aerospace.
- In May this year, aerospace manufacturing company Relativity Space launched a test rocket made entirely from 3D-printed parts, measuring 100 feet tall and 7.5 feet wide.
- Shortly after it’s take off, however, it suffered a failure.
- At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the healthcare industry used 3D printers to make much-needed medical equipment, like swabs, face shields, and masks, as well as the parts to fix their ventilator
Agnibaan SOrTeD (Sub-Orbital Technology Demonstrator)
- About
- Agnikul Cosmos has test-fired its rocket named Agnibaan SOrTeD (Suborbital Tech Demonstrator).
- A sub-orbital launch is a spaceflight that reaches outer space but doesn't complete an orbit around the Earth.
- The spacecraft's trajectory intersects the Earth's atmosphere or surface, so it doesn't become an artificial satellite or reach escape velocity.
- This was the fifth attempt by Agnikul to launch the Agnibaan SOrTeD since March 22.
- With this, AgniKul becomes the second private company to launch a rocket after India's first privately developed rocket, from the company Skyroot, flew in 2022.
- Features
- Agnibaan is a customizable, two-stage launch vehicle that can carry a payload of up to 300 kg into orbit of about 700 km.
- The rocket uses a semi-cryogenic engine, a technology that is yet to be demonstrated by the ISRO in any of its rockets.
- A semi-cryogenic engine is a type of rocket engine that uses a combination of liquid and gaseous propellants.
- It operates at temperatures higher than cryogenic engines but lower than traditional liquid rocket engines.
- They use refined kerosene instead of liquid hydrogen, which is lighter and can be stored at normal temperatures.
- Kerosene also takes up less space, allowing for more propellant to be carried in the engine's fuel compartment.
- When combined with liquid oxygen, kerosene provides a higher thrust for the rocket.
- The test flight aims to:
- demonstrate the in-house and homegrown technologies, gather crucial flight data, and
- ensure the optimal functioning of systems for AgniKul's orbital launch vehicle, the 'Agnibaan'.
- It can access both low and high-inclination orbits and is completely mobile — designed for accessing more than 10 launch ports
- Agnibaan – a series of many firsts
- Agnibaan has become the world’s first 3D printed engine.
- It became the first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch.
- It also became India’s first rocket launch from a private launchpad.
- Agnibaan is powered by the only rocket engine in the country that uses both gas and liquid fuel (liquid oxygen/kerosene).
- Significance
- Typically, engine parts are manufactured separately and assembled later.
- Using the 3D-printed manufacturing process is likely to lower the launch cost and cut down the vehicle assembly time.
- It will help in offering affordable launch services to small satellites.
