Agnikul ropes former ISRO chairman Somanath ahead of the 02 mission

Agnikul Cosmos boarded Somanath. S, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, as an observer on its board. | Photo credit: NAGARA GOPAL

Chennai-based private equity firm Agnikul Cosmos has brought Somanath on board. S, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), as an observer on its board. The appointment comes as Agnikul prepares for Mission 02, a flight that will attempt to recover an orbital-class rocket booster and extend the rocket’s upper stage to an in-orbit platform for the first time on Indian soil.

“Mr. Somanath’s career is in many ways the story of Indian rocketry. He has led ISRO through some of its most defining missions, LVM3, SSLV & RLV, Gaganyaan-Test Vehicle, Chandrayaan-3, Aditya-L1, and spent decades thinking about what it takes to build launch systems that go the 02 distance, which means we have on board the Mission desk, someone who has personally mastered the intricacies of booster design, grade recovery and orbit operations at the highest level For us, this is not a ceremonial appointment – it is a serious working relationship at a serious time,” said Srinath Ravichandran, Co-Founder and CEO, Agnikul Cosmos.

“What Mission 02 requires of us is a step change in engineering discipline. Booster recovery requires precision at every layer, propulsion, guidance, construction, avionics, and upper stage expansion pushes us into an area where few teams worldwide have operated. We’ve spent the last year hardening each of these subsystems. Our Agnite booster engine, validated earlier this year, provides Mr. Thrust. Experience with exactly these kinds of multi-system integration challenges will be invaluable,” he said. Moin SPM, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Agnikul Cosmos.

“I have been following Agnikul closely for some time now and what strikes me most is not just the ambition of what they are trying to do, but the quality of the engineering thinking behind it. Mission 02 is a real technical frontier for India and in several ways for the world. The concept of a convertible upper stage combined with an original semi-cryogenic drive and a coherent engineering and coherent engine that can be manufactured in 3D strategy,” said Mr. Somanath.

Mission 02 will fly in a two-stage Agnibaan configuration in which the first stage booster will attempt a controlled descent and ocean recovery after separation. At the same time, the upper stage will demonstrate an extended on-orbit capability and transform into a functional platform without expending after payload release. Agnikul holds patents in India, the United States and Europe covering this convertible upper stage architecture, which allows the same vehicle hardware that supplies the satellite to serve as an in-orbit asset.

“The strategic timing is no accident. The global reusability race has accelerated dramatically: SpaceX has now flown more than 650 flights with the reusable stage booster Falcon 9, with individual boosters accumulating up to 35 missions, reducing orbit costs to levels that expendable rockets cannot approach,” the company said. Blue Origin’s new Glenn and Rocket Lab’s upcoming Neutron join the field. The message from the market is clear. Reusability is no longer a distinguishing feature; it is a prerequisite, he added.

For India, which has long depended on ISRO tugs and is now building a private launch ecosystem, Mission 02 marks the moment when the country begins to close that gap on its own terms, through a home-grown launch, from a private launcher, using a 3D-printed semi-cryogenic engine that can be manufactured in seven days. the company said.

Published – 15 Jul 2026 23:09 IST