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Building Spacecrafts with 3-D Printers
MICHAEL HOFFMANN over 2 years ago
 
Startup Relativity Space sent what it’s calling the “world’s first 3D-printed rocket” toward space on Wednesday, vaulting it into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Though, it suffered an engine issue after launch and failed to reach orbit.

Terran 1, a 110-foot-tall (33.5-meter) vehicle designed to haul lightweight satellites into orbital space, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida’s eastern coast at just before 11:30 pm ET. The rocket, powered by super-chilled methane and oxygen, burned a bright blue-green against the night sky. 

 
The company’s factory in Long Beach, California, is unlike its competitors. Massive 3D-printing machines tucked behind large hangar doors slowly pour metal to form the hulking fuselages that make up a rocket’s main body.

There are dozens of rocket startups, but Relativity has been a standout for its ability to raise capital and attract high-profile contracts before making its first launch attempt. Still, the Terran 1 rocket that failed its first launch attempt on Wednesday may not end up being the company’s showcase product.

About $1.65 billion in launch contracts are already on the startup’s books. But those deals are “overwhelmingly for our larger reusable rocket Terran R,” Ellis noted. Terran R is still in the early stages of development. 

 
Since 2015, Relativity has worked toward developing its first launch vehicle to gauge the success of its founding thesis — that rockets can be quickly, cheaply and efficiently built using additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing.

Most rockets today rely on some 3D-printed parts, but 85% of Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket is fabricated with this process.