Former ISRO chairman S Somanath joins Agnikul board ahead of reusable rocket test

Former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman S Somanath has joined Chennai-based space startup Agnikul Cosmos as an observer on its board as the company prepares for its most ambitious rocket mission so far.

The startup’s Mission 02 will attempt to recover the first stage of its Agnibaan rocket after launch while also testing whether the rocket’s upper stage can remain in orbit and operate as a functional platform after deploying a satellite.

The planned flight marks a significant step up from Agnikul’s first mission in May 2024, when it conducted a controlled suborbital test flight from its privately built launchpad at Sriharikota.

During Mission 02, the first-stage booster will separate from the upper stage, carry out a controlled descent and be recovered from the ocean. The upper stage will meanwhile test an architecture that allows it to continue operating in orbit instead of being discarded after payload deployment.

Rocket recovery has become an important focus for launch companies because reusable boosters can lower manufacturing costs and allow vehicles to fly more frequently. However, recovery requires precise coordination between propulsion, guidance, avionics and structural systems.

“What Mission 02 demands from us is a step-change in engineering discipline,” Agnikul co-founder and chief operating officer Moin SPM said.

“Booster recovery requires precision at every layer, propulsion, guidance, structural, avionics, and the upper stage extension pushes us into territory that few teams globally have operated in,” he added.

Somanath, who led ISRO during missions including Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1, will advise the company as it works through these technical challenges.

“For us, this is not a ceremonial appointment — it is a serious working relationship at a serious moment,” Agnikul co-founder and chief executive Srinath Ravichandran said.

Somanath said he had followed the company’s progress and viewed Mission 02 as a significant engineering test.

“Mission 02 is a genuine technical frontier, for India and, in several respects, for the world,” he said. “The convertible upper stage concept, combined with indigenous semi-cryogenic propulsion and a 3D-printed engine that can be produced in days, is a coherent and defensible technical strategy.”