AgniKul Cosmos, a Chennai-based aerospace start-up, has developed a roughly one-metre-long rocket engine produced as a single piece using additive manufacturing. The company has been granted a United States patent for the engine’s design and manufacturing method.
The component was printed from an Inconel superalloy and manufactured in a single operation without welds, joints or fasteners, from fuel entry to plume exit. AgniKul describes the hardware as longer and more complex than its previously flown upper-stage single-piece engine.
According to USPTO listings and related patent databases, the grant relates to an invention titled Manufacturing of a single piece rocket engine assigned to Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited (patent listing entry shown in the USPTO Official Gazette and related patent records). The USPTO record lists the inventors and assignment to the company.
The company credited support from the Indian space ecosystem, including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), and the research ecosystem at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. AgniKul previously reported a sub-orbital flight in May 2024 that used a single-piece, 3D-printed engine.