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Chennai-based personal house startup AgniKul Cosmos has 3D printed what it claims to be the world’s largest single-piece 3D printed Inconel rocket engine, which has additionally acquired a US patent.
Measuring about one meter in size, the engine is printed as a single built-in construction that runs from gas inlet to exhaust with out welds, joints, or fasteners. In line with Occasions of India (TOI), the method is meant to decrease manufacturing complexity, cut back factors of failure, and reduce manufacturing time by greater than 60%.
In a LinkedIn publish, Srinath Ravichandran Co-Founder & CEO at AgniKul wrote, “Humbled to introduce the world’s greatest single-piece 3D-printed inconel engine, a worldwide first in each scale & complexity. This milestone marks a breakthrough in additive manufacturing at this scale & comes as a significant extension of our earlier accomplishment of creating & flying the world’s first single piece engine.”
AgniKul’s AM developments in personal house sector
This achievement builds on a collection of milestones which have marked AgniKul’s progress in propulsion know-how. In February 2021, the personal house startup test-fired Agnilet, a semi-cryogenic engine created in a single 3D printing run.
Agnilet was developed to energy the agency’s Agnibaan launch car, designed to hold payloads of as much as 100 kg into low Earth orbits of about 700 km. On the time, AgniKul highlighted that the engine could possibly be printed in underneath 4 days and at roughly a tenth of the price of typical meeting, demonstrating the potential of additive manufacturing in rocketry.
To scale this method, AgniKul established Rocket Manufacturing unit-1 in July 2022 on the IIT Madras Analysis Park in Chennai. Described as India’s first devoted facility for 3D printed rocket engines, the positioning is provided with a 400 mm x 400 mm x 400 mm EOS metallic 3D printer and methods able to dealing with end-to-end manufacturing. Designed to provide as much as two Agnilet engines every week, the manufacturing unit marked a shift from experimental testing towards regular manufacturing functionality.
That functionality was additional demonstrated in Could 2025, when AgniKul test-fired India’s first electrical motor-driven semi-cryogenic rocket engine. In contrast to typical designs that use turbopumps or gasoline mills, the brand new engine employed an electrical motor to flow into propellants, permitting thrust to be exactly different by adjusting motor pace.
In the course of the check, the system was throttled throughout a broad vary of energy ranges, showcasing each flexibility and reliability. A lot of its subsystems have been produced at Rocket Manufacturing unit-1, whereas the related motor drives and management software program have been developed in-house.
The electrical motor-driven engine is meant to energy Agnibaan, which might be configured to hold between 30 kg and 300 kg relying on mission necessities as famous by India In the present day.
With the grant of a US patent for its single-piece 3D printed engine, AgniKul has now secured authorized safety for its design and course of within the US market, underscoring the broader development of India’s personal house sector from early-stage developments towards scalable launch methods.
3D printing reshapes rocket engine manufacturing
One of many advantages of 3D printing is that it permits the engines to be constructed as fewer items, eliminating advanced meeting whereas slicing manufacturing time and prices.
A notable instance of this was revealed when Edinburgh-based personal rocket producer Skyrora started full-duration testing of its up to date 70 kN 3D printed rocket engine, produced utilizing the corporate’s Skyprint 2 3D printers. Supposed for Skyrora’s first business orbital launch, the brand new design lowered manufacturing instances by 66% and prices by 20% whereas incorporating an improved cooling chamber to increase engine life.
Operating 250 seconds every to simulate mission circumstances, assessments evaluated life cycle and operational envelope efficiency. As soon as certified, the engine was stated to grow to be the primary business closed-cycle system utilizing Hydrogen Peroxide and Kerosene, providing increased particular impulse and effectivity for the Skyrora XL orbital car.
Fairness-funded rocket propulsion startup New Frontier Aerospace (NFA) efficiently accomplished sizzling fireplace assessments of its 3D printed Mjölnir rocket engine. The engine employed a full-flow staged combustion cycle, thought-about among the many most effective liquid rocket propulsion designs, making it appropriate for reusable launch methods, hypersonic autos, and orbital switch platforms.
Fueled by liquid pure gasoline (LNG), it provided the potential for web carbon-negative operation when sourced from bio-waste. Supported by funding from the US Protection Innovation Unit (DIU) and NASA, Mjölnir was deliberate for integration into NFA’s Pathfinder hypersonic VTOL UAS in 2026 and the Bifröst orbital switch car in 2027.
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Featured picture exhibits the world’s largest single-piece 3D printed Inconel rocket engine. Picture through Srinath Ravichandran.
