First 3D-printed rocket lifts off but fails to reach orbit
WASHINGTON
The world’s first 3D-printed rocket launched successfully on March 22, marking a step forward for the California company behind the innovative spacecraft, though it failed to reach orbit.
Billed as less costly to produce and fly, the unmanned Terran 1 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:25 p.m. but suffered an “anomaly” during second-stage separation as it streamed towards low Earth orbit, according to a livestream broadcast by aerospace startup Relativity Space.
While it failed to reach orbit, March 22’s launch proved that the rocket, whose mass is 85 percent 3D-printed, could withstand the rigors of lift-off.
The successful launch came on the third attempt. It had originally been scheduled to launch on March 8 but was postponed at the last minute because of propellant temperature issues.
A second attempt on March 11 was scrubbed due to fuel pressure problems.
Had Terran 1 reached low Earth orbit, it would have been the first privately funded vehicle using methane fuel to do so on its first try, according to Relativity.
Terran 1 was not carrying a payload for its first flight, but the rocket will eventually be capable of putting up to 2,755 pounds (1,250 kilograms) into low Earth orbit.
The rocket is 110 feet (33.5 meters) tall with a diameter of 7.5 feet (2.2 meters).
Eighty-five percent of its mass is 3D-printed with metal alloys, including the nine Aeon 1 engines used in its first stage and the one Aeon Vacuum engine employed in the second.
It is the largest ever 3D-printed object and was made using the world’s largest 3D metal printers, according to the Long Beach-based company.
Relativity’s goal is to produce a rocket that is 95 percent 3D-printed.
Terran 1 is powered by engines using liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas, the “propellants of the future,” capable of eventually fueling a voyage to Mars, Relativity says.
SpaceX’s Starship and Vulcan rockets being developed by United Launch Alliance use the same fuel.
