3D printing specialist Relativity Space attempted to launch its first rocket on Saturday, a mission that marked the most important test of the company’s ambitious manufacturing approach.
The company’s Terran 1 rocket launched from LC-16, the launch pad at the US Space Force facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The mission is called “Good Luck, Have Fun,” and the goal is to reach orbit. Relativity has a window between 1 pm and 4 pm ET to launch, or delay it as it did after testing earlier this week. The company said a ground equipment valve malfunctioned during Wednesday’s test, which was affected by the temperature of the propellant pumped into the rocket, but that it had resolved the valve problem.
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While many aerospace companies use 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, Relativity has been very effective in this approach. The company believes the approach will make orbital-class rockets faster than traditional methods, require thousands of cheaper parts and allow changes to be made through software. The Long Beach, California-based venture aims to build a rocket from raw materials in 60 days.
Terran 1 is 110 feet tall, with nine engines powering the lower first stage, and one engine powering the upper second stage. The Aeon engine is 3D printed, with the rocket using liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas as two types of fuel. The company says that 85% of this first Terran 1 rocket was 3D printed.
The company’s Terran 1 rocket stands on the launchpad at LC-16 in Cape Canaveral, Florida before its maiden launch attempt.
Trevor Mahlmann / Space Relativity
Relativity prices Terran 1 at $ 12 million per launch. It is designed to carry approximately 1,250 kilograms into low Earth orbit. That puts the Terran 1 in the “medium lift” segment of the US launch market, between Rocket Lab’s Electron and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in price and capability.
Wednesday’s debut for Terran 1 carried no payload or satellites on the rocket. The company confirmed the launch as a prototype.
At series of tweets before the mission, Ellis shared his expectations for the mission: He noted that reaching the maximum aerodynamic pressure milestone about 80 seconds after liftoff would be a “key inflection” point to prove the company’s technology.
Outside the factory “The Wormhole”.
Relativity Space