BANGALORE: Space start-up, Chennai-based Agnikul Cosmos, is targeting its first rocket launch in a sub-orbital mission by the end of this year. Indian Research Space Organisation (ISRO) on Friday said: “Agnikul received its first Flight Termination System (FTS) from ISRO on November 7 with the support of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre). The official handing over event happened marking the culmination of multiple rounds of interactions about interfacing, handling and using these systems on Agnikul’s launch vehicle ‘Agnibaan’.”

The FTS delivery, ISRO says, marks the first time that a system that has been used for its launch vehicles is being supplied for supporting a private launch vehicle built in India.

“The package will be used for their fully-controlled sub-orbital launcher, scheduled to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre-SHAR, in Sriharikota,” ISRO added.

Agnikul co-founder Srinath Ravichandran told TOI: “We are targeting the sub-orbital flight before the end of this year, and we will soon make an announcement. The FTS delivery is a big step towards a guided, controlled flight, which needs to have the right safety mechanisms in place. In that regard, this is one step in that direction where we’ll be directly interfacing with ISRO systems.” A flight wouldn’t be possible without this system, he added.