Relativity Space is about to make history tomorrow afternoon with the first launch of its 110-foot Terran 1 rocket. Founded in 2015 by Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, the company is best known for his innovative 3D printing technology. Terran 1 is 3D printed with 85% of its mass, including the rocket engine. Relativity CEO Tim Ellis mirrors SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Martian ambitions, and the company bets big and has even bigger ambitions.
“Our long-term mission is to build an industrial base on Mars and help humanity become multiplanetary,” Ellis told TechCrunch.
The company has made many headlines during its eight-year history. Here are the top 10 moments from the TC Archive.
I first wrote about Relativity in 2017, when the company had only 14 (!) full-time employees. The company hopes to use a 3D printing process to reduce the cost of launching rockets by a factor of ten.
Relativity has been awarded a multi-year contract by the U.S. Air Force to operate a rocket launch facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Relativity hopes to launch Terran 1 tomorrow.
TC’s Darrell Etherington spoke to CEO Tim Ellis about the economics behind Relativity Space just months after the company raised $140 million. (TC+)
Building on the momentum, Relativity has announced a new bargain. It’s a huge warehouse-style building in Long Beach, California.
The company announced a major salary increase in November 2020. Shortly thereafter, aggressive expansion took place in terms of employees, facilities and everything.
The theory of relativity has revealed what’s next for Terran 1. Terran R is a much bigger, more ambitious 3D printed rocket that is fully reusable.
Less than a year after raising $500 million, the company was able to raise another $650 million to expand the development of Terran R.
Relativity expands its footprint tenfold with a new 1 million square foot facility in Long Beach.
Last year, we broke the news that Relativity had signed a gargantuan deal with British satellite constellation operator OneWeb, signing a solid $1.2 billion Terran R launch contract.
Relativity, along with startup Impulse Space, founded by the former CTO of SpaceX’s propulsion division, have announced new plans to land a spacecraft on Mars as early as 2024 (yes, you’re right).
