---
title: "Astrobase Space Technologies receives India’s largest 3D printer for FFSC rocket engine production"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/astrobase-space-technologies-receives-indias-largest-3d-printer-for-ffsc-rocket-engine-production/
date: 2026-03-31
modified: 2026-03-31
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Astrobase Space Technologies, a space travel startup in India, has received what it claims is the country’s largest 3D printer at its Bengaluru facility. Requiring four trucks to transport it,..."
categories:
  - "3D Printer Hardware"
  - "Aerospace AM"
  - "AM for Space"
  - "Metal Additive Manufacturing"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Astrobase-01-640x400.jpg
word_count: 334
---

# Astrobase Space Technologies receives India’s largest 3D printer for FFSC rocket engine production

Astrobase Space Technologies, a space travel startup in India, has received what it claims is the country’s largest 3D printer at its Bengaluru facility.

Requiring four trucks to transport it, the additive manufacturing equipment is capable of producing multiple 80-tonne-thrust [Full Flow Staged Combustion (FFSC) engines](https://www.voxelmatters.com/leap-71-and-nikon-slm-solutions-produce-2-mn-full%e2%80%91flow-engine-injector-head/) per year, and is the first industrial-scale metal 3D printer installed at the New Space startup, which was founded in 2024.

The company was co-founded by Neeraj Khandelwal, an IIT Bombay alumnus and co-founder of the CoinDCX cryptocurrency exchange, and Devakumar Thammisetty, a former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist with more than 13 years of experience in cryogenic propulsion. Thammisetty contributed to India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.

![Astrobase Space Technologies receives India](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Astrobase-02-340x213.jpg)The AST team at its Bengaluru facility

Khandelwal wrote on social media about the equipment’s arrival: “Building India's first FFSC rocket engine means building the factory that can build the engine. No shortcuts.”

The previous holder of the largest 3D printer record in India was [fellow New Space startup Agnikul Cosmos](https://www.voxelmatters.com/agnikul-cosmos-fires-single-piece-inconel-rocket-engine-in-chennai-test/), which has established its [Large Format Additive Metal Manufacturing (LFAMM) unit in Chennai](https://www.voxelmatters.com/agnikul-cosmos-india-large-format-am-facility-aerospace/). 

## Engine design and vehicle plans

Astrobase is developing an 800 kilonewton thrust liquid oxygen-methane FFSC engine with 3D printed core components. The FFSC cycle is among the most thermally efficient propulsion architectures available and only a small number of companies globally have brought it to operational hardware. 

The engine is intended to power a two-stage, medium-lift, partially reusable launch vehicle designed for satellite deployments, constellation missions and sovereign payloads.

## Testing roadmap

Astrobase completed sub-scale hot-fire tests in September 2025, validating combustion stability, materials and flow systems. The company has also conducted cold flow tests of its turbopumps and secured regulatory clearance to construct a private high-thrust liquid oxygen-liquefied natural gas (LOX-LNG) test facility in Andhra Pradesh.

Full-scale engine tests are planned for later in 2026, with a vertical takeoff, vertical landing prototype demonstration targeted for 2027 and a maiden orbital launch date set for 2029.