TDB Commits Rs 200 Crore to Agnikul Cosmos for Agnibaan Reusable Launch Vehicle

27 September 2026National

The Technology Development Board (TDB) under the Department of Science and Technology signed an agreement on 25 September 2026 with Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos providing Rs 200 crore from the government's Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund to build the Agnibaan Reusable Launch Vehicle. The support comes as optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) and aims to lift the technology from Technology Readiness Level 4 to TRL-8, the stage of system qualification. Agnibaan's design goes beyond first-stage recovery to a reusable upper stage with descent and recovery systems, a lightweight upper stage and a semi-cryogenic engine with deep throttling and restart capability.

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The Technology Development Board was set up under the Technology Development Board Act, 1995, and works under the DST | IN-SPACe is the single-window regulator for India's private space sector, headquartered at Ahmedabad | Agnikul's Agnilet was the world's first single-piece 3D-printed semi-cryogenic rocket engine

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