CHENNAI: The rocket launch from the country's first privately-owned launchpad has been postponed due to a technical issue, Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited said on Thursday.
Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited's 3-D printed space vehicle-Agnibaan with single piece engine was slated to be launched on Friday from Agnikul Launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR located near Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) facility at Sriharikota.
"Agnikul is holding the launch out of an abundance of caution based on certain minor observations from the full countdown rehearsals last night," it said. Agnikul will announce a new date and time for the launch.
The IIT-Madras incubated startup's launch is Sub Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD).
It builds customizable launch vehicles for small satellites to Low Earth Orbits (LEO) called Agnibaan.
The startup has so far raised 41 million USD in four rounds. As the demand for small satellite launches increases, Agnikul focuses on-demand launches for small markets instead of ride-hailing with large satellites.
Market for smaller sats are growing at 17.3% CAGR and may touch 9 billion USD by 2030, according to various market research reports.
Applications are primarily in the communication and earth observation with scores of companies' eyes launched for direct telecommunication like sat phones, internet of things (IoT) applications and imaging for logistics, land-use, agri, coastal, insurance, project development monitoring and weather tracking.
There are some emerging applications like manufacturing and data centers in space.