almost completely The 3D-printed rocket is ready to take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and head into low-Earth orbit.
The first launch of Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket, scheduled for a three-hour launch window beginning tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET, will expand the use of 3D printing for the California-based startup and in the space industry. a major milestone for Relativity and similar companies envision eventually using this technology to build tools, spacecraft, and infrastructure in orbit, the Moon, or Mars. In these cases, the soil of the Moon and Mars is used as building material.
But first, the company’s engineers want to see how the Terran 1 fares in this important test flight, an event the company dubs “Good Luck, Have Fun.” “Our rocket’s biggest goal is to collect as much data as possible and learn as much from the flight as possible,” says senior vice his president Josh Brost. He and his colleagues carefully watch the trajectory through the stratosphere reaching an orbital point called ‘max q’ about a minute after launch. At this time, intense dynamic pressure gives stress to the rocket. Terran 1 is fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas, and “no brand new company in history has ever launched the first liquid-fueled rocket into space on its first attempt,” Brost said. “It’s incredibly challenging.”
Despite the unconventional assembly process, the Terran 1 rocket looks like any other rocket. The two-stage rocket is 110 feet tall and 7.5 feet in diameter. While 85% of the rocket’s mass, including the main structure, was 3D printed, only readily available parts such as computing systems, electronics, and fasteners were not 3D printed. (The company is eyeing his 95% of future rockets.) Other companies have used 3D-printed parts before, but this is another level: Relativity Space plans to make Terran 1 the world’s largest I call it his 3D printed object.
To create the rocket stages and components, the company designed its own giant 3D printer. The process uses a robotic arm with a printhead that extrudes an aluminum alloy. Brost said the company’s next-generation 3D printer will be even bigger, allowing it to print single elements 24 feet in diameter and 120 feet long.
Brost argues that printing most of the rocket has many advantages. Once the printer is ready, the company creates many large, intricate parts that he can put together like a big set of Lego bricks. This will reduce labor costs, make his chain of supply easier to manage, and ultimately reduce the cost of space hardware, he says.
Relativity Space hopes to use Terran 1 to lift other companies’ and NASA’s satellites into Earth orbit (relatively) cheaply. The company also wants to compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which has a smaller payload capacity and reuses only the rocket’s first stage, the Terran R, a larger, more powerful and fully reusable rocket. I am planning to build a Relativity plans to test launch a payload to Mars using Terran R in late 2024. Another startup, Impulse Space, will provide the lander.
