The first 3D printed rocket is preparing for liftoff
The first 3D-printed rocket is preparing for liftoff. The Terran 1 rocket, built by US aerospace startup Relativity Space, is set to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 8 March.
“Terran 1 will be the largest 3D-printed object to attempt orbital flight,” said a Relativity Space representative in a statement. The rocket is about 35 metres tall, making it one of the smallest orbital rockets in the industry, and 85 per cent of it by mass is 3D printed. It’s designed to lift up to 1250 kilograms into low Earth orbit, and the firm is charging $12 million per flight.
Terran 1 is fully expendable, and for this first test flight it will not have a payload – if the rocket makes it into space, the flight will be considered a success. The company has opted to skip one last planned test of the rocket – a , in which the rocket’s engines are fired while the rocket is secured to the ground – and go straight to the launch.“By not completing static fire, we accept the increased likelihood of an abort on our first launch attempt, but if all systems are performing nominally, we would rather release and launch during our next operation than continue to wear the vehicle through additional testing on the ground,” said the firm’s representative.
“That’s the vehicle customers need,” said the Relativity representative. “Terran 1 is our pathfinder, our development platform to get to Terran R.”
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