Agnikul Cosmos

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Agnikul Cosmos targets India's first ocean booster recovery with Mission-02

Reusable rocket stages could slash launch costs by up to 80%, the economics reshaping competition among global space companies.

• Agnikul Cosmos announced Mission-02, an attempt to recover an orbital-class rocket booster via controlled ocean splashdown -- a first for India -- while converting the upper stage into an in-orbit platform.
• Agnikul is a Chennai-based, IIT Madras-incubated space transportation company that builds the Agnibaan family of small-lift launch vehicles powered by the world's first single-piece 3D-printed semi-cryogenic engine.
• Mission-02 follows 2024's Mission-01, which flew Agnikul's 3D-printed engine for the first time; the new flight will use a two-stage Agnibaan configuration whose first stage attempts a controlled descent and ocean recovery.
• The upper stage will be repurposed as an in-orbit platform called Rock-Sat, letting the same hardware that delivers a satellite then host experiments and generate revenue instead of burning up as debris.
• Agnikul says recovering and refurbishing the booster, plus running its own launchpads and lean mobile ground operations, could cut launch costs by up to 80%.
• The announcement came days after China recovered an orbital-class rocket booster, breaking the decade-long monopoly SpaceX held on reusable orbital launch technology.
• Former ISRO chairman S Somanath has joined Agnikul's board as an observer ahead of the attempt, bringing experience from leading India's LVM3, SSLV, RLV and Gaganyaan Test Vehicle programs.
• Mastery of booster reusability is increasingly seen as the defining competitive barrier in launch economics, and a successful attempt would place India among a small club of nations with the capability.