Space Relativity: The first 3D-printed rocket is about to launch into space

Update: The Terran 1 rocket did not launch on March 8 due to a fuel temperature issue, and Relativity Space is expected to release a new launch date soon.

The first 3D-printed rocket is preparing for launch. The Terran 1 rocket, built by American aerospace company Relativity Space, is due to lift off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on March 8.

“Terran 1 will be the largest 3D printed object to attempt orbital flight,” a Relativity Space spokesperson said in a statement. The rocket is about 35 meters high, making it one of the smallest orbital rockets in the industry, and its mass is 85 percent 3D printed. It is designed to lift up to 1,250kg into low Earth orbit, and the firm charges $12 million per flight. By comparison, SpaceX’s ubiquitous Falcon 9 rocket can lift over 22,000kg into orbit and costs about $67 million per flight.

The Terran 1 is completely disposable and will not have a payload for this first test flight – if the rocket hits space, the flight will be considered a success. The company decided to skip the last scheduled test of the rocket — a static fire in which the rocket’s engines are fired while the rocket is secured to the ground — and go straight to launch.

“By not terminating the static fire, we are accepting an increased chance of aborting on our first launch attempt, but if all systems are operating nominally, we would rather release and launch during our next operation than continue to wear down the vehicle through additional ground testing,” a spokesperson for the firm said. . The rocket and each of its engines have gone through a flurry of tests to get here, and one more test may result in more wear and tear than it’s worth.

The stated goal of Relativity Space is to promote the creation of an industrial society on Mars, and Terran 1 is too small for that. Although it is designed to put small satellites into orbit, its main purpose is to create a smaller prototype of the 66-meter Terran R rocket, which the company intends to launch for the first time in 2024.

The Terran R is planned to be fully reusable, mostly 3D printed, and able to put up to 20,000 kg into orbit. Relativity’s website says that in addition to launching larger satellites into orbit around the Earth, Terran R “will also eventually offer customers a space cargo craft capable of flying between the Earth, the Moon and Mars.”

“This is the car that customers want,” a spokesman for Relativity said. “Terran 1 is our trailblazer, our development platform for Terran R.”