India’s Astrobase unveils metal AM-enabled Everest LOX-methane rocket engine
Astrobase Space Technologies, headquartered in Bengaluru, India, has unveiled Everest, an 800 kN full-flow staged combustion (FFSC) rocket engine which the company states is India’s first privately developed engine of its type.
The engine was unveiled on August 7 as part of Astrobase’s efforts to establish domestic manufacturing and testing capacity for high-thrust rocket engines.
According to the company, the infrastructure supporting the Everest programme is intended to enable production of up to fifty engines annually and approximately one high-thrust engine test per week.
Astrobase stated that the programme is intended to establish longer-term manufacturing and testing capacity for India’s private space sector, rather than focus solely on development of the Everest engine.
Metal Additive Manufacturing forms part of Astrobase’s propulsion manufacturing approach. The company states that the Everest LOX-methane engine incorporates additively manufactured core components, while its wider propulsion infrastructure includes industrial metal AM capability intended to support the production of advanced rocket-engine hardware.
