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Indian Space Startup Launches Country's Second Privately Built Rocket

FILE PHOTO: Agnibaan SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator (SOrTeD), vehicle is seen at Agnikul's Launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, November 28, 2022. Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Agnibaan SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator (SOrTeD), vehicle is seen at Agnikul's Launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, November 28, 2022. Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited/Handout via REUTERS
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Indian Space Startup Launches Country's Second Privately Built Rocket

FILE PHOTO: Agnibaan SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator (SOrTeD), vehicle is seen at Agnikul's Launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, November 28, 2022. Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Agnibaan SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator (SOrTeD), vehicle is seen at Agnikul's Launchpad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, November 28, 2022. Agnikul Cosmos Private Limited/Handout via REUTERS

India's Agnikul Cosmos launched its Agnibaan rocket for the first time on Thursday, powered by the only Indian rocket engine to use both gas and liquid fuel in the country's second flight of a privately built rocket.
The Agnibaan's first flight had been called off four times in the last two months because of technical issues. The most recent cancellation was Tuesday, when launch was aborted five seconds before lift-off, Reuters reported.
The South Asian nation's space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has not successfully flown a rocket with a so-called "semi-cryogenic" engine.
"A major milestone, as the first-ever controlled flight of a semi-cryogenic liquid engine realized through additive manufacturing," ISRO said on social media platform X.
Agnibaan is a customizable, two-stage launch vehicle that can carry a payload of up to 300 kg (661 lb) into orbit of about 700 kilometers (435 miles).
The suborbital flight on Thursday was meant to test the new engine and 3D-printed parts; the company did not immediately say how long the test lasted or what altitude the rocket reached.
Pawan K Goenka, chairman of space regulator Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Center (IN-SPACe), also hailed the "historic moment". The Indian Space Association (ISpA) said the launch would "bolster global confidence" in the country's private space industry.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing for the privatization and commercialization of the country's space sector in the last few years.
India's first privately developed rocket, from the company Skyroot, flew in 2022.
Agnikul, whose name is derived from the Hindi and Sanskrit work for fire, was founded in 2017 and runs India's first private launchpad and mission control center. All other launchpads are operated by ISRO.

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‘More and Faster’: UN Calls to Shrink Buildings’ Carbon Footprint

Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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‘More and Faster’: UN Calls to Shrink Buildings’ Carbon Footprint

Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Snow capped mountains are seen behind the downtown Los Angeles skyline, California, US, March 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Countries must move rapidly to slash CO2 emissions from homes, offices, shops and other buildings -- a sector that accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas pollution, the United Nations said Monday.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector rose around five percent in the last decade when they should have fallen 28 percent, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

It said emissions had plateaued since 2023 as climate policies began to have an impact, particularly green building standards, the use of renewable energy and electrified heating and cooling.

But the building sector still consumes 32 percent of the world's energy and contributes 34 percent of CO2 emissions, the report found.

"The buildings where we work, shop and live account for a third of global emissions and a third of global waste," said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

"The good news is that government actions are working. But we must do more and do it faster."

She called on nations to include targets to "rapidly cut emissions from buildings and construction" in their climate plans.

The report said that while most of the countries that signed up to the 2015 Paris climate deal -- nearly 200 have signed -- mention the sector, so far only 19 countries have sufficiently detailed goals in their national carbon cutting plans.

The report said that as of 2023, important metrics like energy-related emissions and the adoption of renewable energy "remain well below required progress rates".

That means that countries, businesses and homeowners now need to dramatically pick up the pace to meet the 2030 emissions reduction targets.

- 'Critical challenge' -

Direct and indirect CO2 emissions will now need to fall more than 10 percent per year, more than double the originally envisaged pace.

The rollout of renewables is a similar story.

The share of renewables like solar and wind in final energy consumption rose by only 4.5 percentage points since 2015, well behind the goal of nearly 18 percentage points.

That now needs to accelerate by a factor of seven to meet this decade's goal of tripling renewable energy use worldwide, UNEP said.

The report urged countries to accelerate the roll-out of renewable technologies and increase the share of renewables in the final energy mix to 46 percent by 2030 -- a rise of around 18 percent.

It also called on policymakers to increase energy efficiency retrofits to include better design, insulation and the use of renewables and heat pumps.

More work also needs to be done to improve the sustainability of materials like steel and cement, whose manufacture accounts for nearly a fifth of all emissions from the building sector.

But the report did say that circular construction practices were increasing in some areas, with recycled materials accounting for 18 percent of construction inputs in Europe.

The authors urged all major greenhouse gas emitters to take action by introducing zero-carbon building energy codes by 2028, and called on other countries to create and tighten their regulations within the next 10 years.

The report highlighted positive national policies from China, France, Germany, Mexico and South Africa among others.

But it said financing remained a "critical challenge".

In 2023, it found that global investment in energy efficiency in buildings fell seven percent from a year earlier to $270 billion, driven by higher borrowing costs and the winding back of government support programs, notably in Europe.

Those investments now need to double -- to $522 billion -- by 2030, it said.