Last Update: April 13, 2023, 03:01 AM IST
Relativity Space’s goal – along with a rocket like the Terran 1 – is to create a rocket that is 95% 3D printed. (Image: Reuters)
The Long Beach, California-based company launched the Terran 1, the world’s first 3D-printed rocket, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 22.
Relativity Space, an aerospace startup that conducted the first test flight of a 3D-printed rocket, announced Wednesday that it will focus on a larger rocket to compete with SpaceX and other companies for commercial launches.
The Long Beach, California-based company launched the Terran 1, the world’s first 3D-printed rocket, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 22.
Although it failed to reach orbit, the test flight proved that the rocket — 85 percent of which is 3D-printed by mass — can withstand the rigors of liftoff and space flight.
Relativity Space said it is shifting its focus from Terran 1 to a larger, reusable 3D-printed rocket known as Terran R, with the first commercial launch scheduled for 2026 from Florida.
“Relativity is intensifying the company’s focus on Terran R to meet an important and growing market demand,” the company said in a statement.
“The Terran R also represents a major leap forward in the direction of Relativity’s mission to build humanity’s multiplanetary future, ultimately offering customers a point-to-point space freighter capable of missions from Earth to the Moon, Mars and beyond.” Is.”
The commercial satellite launch market is currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, capable of placing a payload of 22,800 kg (50,265 lb) into low Earth orbit.
Relativity Space said the 270-foot (82 m) tall Terran R would be capable of putting a payload of 23,500 kg into low Earth orbit.
A satellite operator can wait years for a spot on a SpaceX or Arianespace rocket, and Relativity Space hopes to accelerate that timeline with its 3D-printed rockets, which it says are less expensive to produce and fly.
“The Terran 1 was like a concept car, redefining the boundaries of the possible by developing several valuable brand-new technologies ahead of their time,” said Tim Ellis, CEO of Relativity Space. The Terrain R is a mass-market, high-demand product. ,
Terran 1 was built using the world’s largest 3D metal printer and is powered by engines using liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas, which Relativity calls the propellant of the future that will eventually fuel travel to Mars. able to give.
SpaceX’s Starship and Vulcan rockets being developed by United Launch Alliance use the same fuel.
Relativity has signed a $1.65 billion commercial launch contract for the Terran R, according to Ellis, who co-founded the company in 2015.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
