Another day, another scrub for the world’s first 3D-printed rocket. On Saturday, Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket failed to lift off after two launch attempts. It was a day of false starts. After Wednesday’s cleanup, Relativity Space initially set its sights on a 1:45 p.m. ET launch, a window the company later pushed back to 2:45 p.m. ET. due to “upper level wind violations”.
After the countdown was reset, everything was going well until a canister came into range of the spaceship. Once the countdown resumed again, the company called off the launch at t-minus zero after the spacecraft’s nine Aeon first-stage engines roared and then shut down almost immediately afterward. After blaming a “launch commitment criteria violation” for the 2:45 p.m. abort, Relativity Space said it would attempt to fly the rocket again at 4 p.m. ET, just as its launch window was nearing. to close for that day. Unfortunately, the second time around, Relativity called off before Terran 1 could start its engines. As of this writing, the company did not provide a reason for the decision, but saying the rocket was “healthy” and that he would soon have more information to share.
Provided it can get off the ground, Terran 1 would represent a major milestone for spaceflight technology. While the rocket is not fully 3D printed, 85 percent of its mass is, including its entire structure and 10 first- and second-stage engines. In theory, the Terran 1 manufacturing process produces a spacecraft that is cheaper and faster to manufacture. Relativity Space claims that it can build a Terran 1 rocket in about 60 days, and that exclusive missions will cost around $12 million to complete. With future spacecraft, the company hopes to make around 90 percent of the vehicle from 3D-printed parts.
