A California based private establishment Relativity Space embarked on a venture to launch ‘World’s first 3D printed rocket named Terran 1’, an historic endeavour, which due to uncertain circumstances had to be called off after months of sedulous and assiduous planning. The liftoff mission was aborted a few minutes before the scheduled timing from a Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its launch was a major test of the US firm’s innovative approach to reduce production costs.
Overview of the delay
The 35-metre-tall Terran 1 rocket, 85 percent of which was made using a 3D method, was scheduled to launch from a United States Space Force base launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. However the launch was scrubbed owing to a temperature problem around one minute before liftoff. The reason for the halt is, during a three-hour launch window, diminishing ‘propellant temperature conditions’ in the second stage of the rocket finally necessitated a pause. According to sources, the new launch date is on 11 th March, although no official announcements were made.
Insight into Terran-1
Terran 1 is a disposable two-stage small-lift launch vehicle fully supported by Relativity Space company since 2017. The majority of the vehicle’s structures and components are made using 3D printing techniques. A method, which is extensively used in a variety of industries and incorporates machines that print successive layers of soft, liquid, or powdered materials, which are then rapidly hardened or fused to produce solid, three-dimensional structures. Object designs are retrieved from virtual schematics. The highest payload is estimated at 1250 kg, making Relativity truly one of a kind. It has approximately invested around $4 billion.
Collaborations
It has also established collaborations with NASA to use the agency’s testing facilities. The startup claims to have constructed the world’s biggest metal 3D printer vehicles and asserted to have already sold $12 million each flight of future Terran 1 travel.
Objective and Mission of Relativity Space
In an overview, Terran 1 is a groundbreaking mission for Relativity Space and aerospace technology. It comprises a two-stage takeoff. The two-stage Terran 1 is the first rocket to be constructed using 3D printing exclusively. This initial Terran 1 is around 85 percent 3D-printed by mass, but the business intends to increase that percentage to 95 percent on subsequent vehicles.The primary objective of flight is thus to demonstrate that the spacecraft can withstand the hardships of takeoff.
Official Statement
According to Brost, senior vice-president of Relativity Space, the use of 3D printers enables Relativity Space to accelerate a significant portion of its manufacturing procedures and more easily make changes to improve the rocket’s design if necessary after it has taken off. This eliminates the need for a convoluted supply chain that would otherwise slow rocket improvements.
Production Costs
As one of the few American rocket companies, Relativity Space, has staked on the cost reductions it anticipates from deploying massive, robotic 3D printers to streamline its rocket manufacturing lines.The company is racing to meet the rising demand for affordable launch services. Most of its competitors have concentrated on reducing costs by developing reusable rockets, such the Falcon 9 boosters made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Future Initiatives
This would be the maiden flight for the innovative business, which has branded the mission ‘Good Luck, Have Fun’. Even though it has only been tested on the ground, officials are hopeful that Terran 1 will reach orbit, something no commercial business has ever accomplished for a first launch. Mark Cuban of the television show Shark Tank was among the company’s initial shareholders. In addition, the startup is developing the next-generation Terran-R, a more formidable and completely reusable 3D-printed rocket; it has a deal with the communications firm OneWeb to launch its network of satellites into orbit.
