It was reported on May 30 that the full 3D printing rocket Terran 1 developed by the space start-up relativity space will conduct its first flight test this summer, 18 months later than the original plan. Mo Shahzad, the company's chief financial officer, said in an interview that the pre launch test of the rocket had ended last week, and Terran 1 would be transported from a facility in Long Beach, California to the launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 31. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 2020, but now it is 18 months behind schedule.
The Terran 1 rocket is designed to put a payload weighing up to 1000 kg into orbit. The first stage carries nine AEON rocket engines. According to Shahzad, the first launch of the rocket was just a demonstration. The company has signed a follow-up flight contract with NASA and the innovation Department of the US Department of defense.
Shahzad revealed that relativity space is also developing a larger Terran r rocket with a design load 20 times that of Terran 1, which can be used to launch commercial satellites. Shahzad said that "we will give priority to Terran R" in the future, because customers are very interested in rockets of this size.
In the past two years, the number of employees of relativity space has increased fivefold to nearly 800. The company said it had raised $1.3 billion from investors such as BlackRock, Tiger Fund and billionaire Mark Cuban.
The competitors of relativity space include SpaceX, rocket lab, virgin orbit and blue origin. Relativity space said that with its 3D printing capability, it can build rockets and launch payloads faster than its competitors. More than 90% of the rocket parts are "printed" by machines, which can effectively reduce the cost compared with traditional manufacturing methods.
Relativity space is transferring the production of Terran r rockets to a larger plant near Long Beach Airport. The factory covers an area of 93000 square meters. Boeing once produced C-17 transport aircraft here. Relativity space hopes to use 3D printing technology to establish an industrial base on Mars one day in the future.
Relevant data show that relativity space completed the latest round of financing about a year ago, when the company was valued at US $4.2 billion.