Agnikul foresees 100 launches a year for its reusable rocket

Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos, one of India's two private rocket startups, plans to launch 100 missions of its reusable rocket over the next five years.

- Shouvik Das [e-mail]

Unlike Elon Musk's scale-first model, the company says it can work closely with clients to make the programme profitable within two years.

In an interview, Srinath Ravichandran, cofounder and chief executive, Agnikul Cosmos, said the firm is very likely to make its first commercial reusable rocket launch in the coming year. "We don't have a set date for it, but we're readying our next launch, which will have commercial clients for next year. In two years, we'll scale up to 12-15 launches per year, and by 2030, hope to see 100 launches per year-or one launch every three days."

At the heart of Agnikul's efforts is its reusable rockets pitch. On 22 November, the firm raised $17 million in Series C funding at a valuation of $500 million. The firm raised its latest capital based on its efforts to build a fully 3D-printed reusable twostage rocket, Agnibaan.