AgniKul to launch data centres in space with ₹510 crore MoU in Andhra Pradesh

IIT Chennai based space tech startup Agnikul Cosmos is planning to launch orbital data centres and will test the country’s first reusable rocket mission next year. In the reusable mission, the lower part of the rocket comes back to the earth after placing the payload in the orbit.

Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited has inked an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to invest ₹510 crore for setting up a facility to manufacture orbital data centres and reusable rockets at space city in Tirupati.

“We have signed the MoU for setting up a facility for two things. One is orbital data centre. We have developed technology to build the upper part of the rocket as a platform for hosting data centres in the space,” said Srinath Ravichandran, co-founder and CEO, Agnikul.

The company successfully launched the world’s first rocket with a single piece 3D printed engine from Sriharikota in May 2024. This remarkable feat was achieved entirely through indigenous design and development. “We are now attempting a reusable mission in the first half of the coming year,” Ravichandran said.

“Space based data centres are coming up as energy needs on the ground are very high. We have already patented the technology. We are building it out as a test in our existing facilities, but we want to build a factory in Tirupati. That is one of the primary purposes of the MoU,” Ravichandran told Fortune India.

“The other thing is Sriharikota is right here. So, for all the equatorial launches, it is going to be a great location. So, we would like to have a facility to assemble the rockets and directly use them for the equatorial launces. That is the focus,” he added.

“When you are talking of a reuse of a rocket, you may have seen some of the Spacex videos where the lower part of the rocket comes back. We are doing the same thing in this mission. Spacex also throws away the upper part of the rocket. What we are trying to do is to use that part of the rocket as well. But since it is a very difficult project to bring it back, we are trying to keep it as a platform in space. So, once it becomes a platform in the space, you can use it for multiple things. One of the customers we are talking to right now are people who are building data centres,” said Ravichandran.

“Now, the question is why would one build data centre in space? Because energy is available in abundance and at a much lower price. You can directly take energy from solar cells and you can radiate it, without all the water needs -- the usual problems that we talk about on the surface of the earth,” he said.