The Department of Space on Thursday said it has signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Chennai-based small rocket company Agnikul Cosmos Pvt Ltd to access the facilities and technical expertise available in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centres.

According to DoS, this is the first NDA to be signed after the establishment of IN-SPACe, the authorization and regulatory body for enabling private players to undertake space activities in India.

Under the NDA, Agnikul Cosmos will be enabled to access the facilities and technical expertise available in ISRO centres to proceed with their launch vehicle development program.

The start-up company is located in the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

The NDA was signed in the presence of Space Secretary and ISRO Chairman Dr. K Sivan, and IIT-Madras Director Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi. R. Umamaheswaran, Scientific Secretary, ISRO, was the signatory on behalf of Department of Space for the NDA and Agnikul Cosmos CEO Srinath Ravichandran on behalf of the company.

The ISRO officials assured all support to Agnikul Cosmos for testing and qualifying its rocket.