Another day, another scrub of the world’s first 3D printed rocket. On Saturday, Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket failed to take off from the ground after two launch attempts. It was a false start day. Following Wednesday’s scrub, Relativity Space originally set a target for 1:45 PM ET, but the company has since moved this window back to 2:45 PM ET. It is due to “upper wind violation”.
After the countdown resumed, all was well until the boat came within range of the spacecraft. As the countdown resumed again, the company called a launch abort at t minus 0 after the spacecraft’s nine first-stage ion engines fired and shut down almost immediately after. Relativity Space attempts to re-flight the rocket at 4pm, just as the day’s launch window was closing, after accusing the 2:45pm abort of a “launch commitment violation”. said. Unfortunately, on his second Relativity, the abort was called before Terran 1 ignited its engines. As of this writing, the company has not provided a reason for the decision, but Said Rocket said he was “healthy” and would have more information to share soon.
If it can land, Terran 1 will be an important milestone in spaceflight technology. The rocket wasn’t completely 3D printed, but 85% of its mass was 3D printed, including the entire structure and ten first and second stage engines. In theory, the Terran 1 manufacturing process would produce a cheaper and faster spacecraft. Relativity Space claims that the Terran 1 rocket can be built in about 60 days and will cost about $12 million to complete the limited mission. The company hopes that future spacecraft will have about 90% of the vehicle made from his 3D printed parts.
