3D printed rockets
Relativity Space is a California-based aerospace company founded in 2015 that aims to revolutionize the traditional aerospace industry by using 3D printing technology to build rockets. The company’s stated goal is to reduce the time and cost of manufacturing rockets by 3D printing large rocket components in one piece, rather than assembling them from smaller pieces. Relativity Space is developing a line of launch vehicles, dubbed Terran, that will be fully reusable and capable of carrying payloads of up to 20,000 kg into low Earth orbit. The company was funded by a number of investors including Playground Global, Y Combinator and Mark Cuban. It also has contracts with a number of commercial and government customers, including the US Department of Defense and Iridium Communications. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Tim Ellis, is no stranger to the US startup scene. Before founding the company, he worked as a development engineer at Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos.
Manufacturing in just 60 days
According to the company, 85 percent of the components in the Terran 1 rocket come from a 3D printer. The long-term goal is to then produce 95 percent of the components from the 3D printer for the larger rocket called Terran R. The rocket engines also come from the 3D printer and use liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas. According to Relativity Space, these are “best suited not only for rocket propulsion, but also for reusability” and are “easiest to convert to methane on Mars”. The larger Terran R rocket is currently under development and is expected to make its first launch in 2024. A major advantage of 3D-printed rockets is that they can be manufactured quickly – according to the company’s website, the company’s rockets can be produced in just 60 days. Ellis is convinced that in the future, rockets for space travel will come from 3D printers. “It’s comparable to what Tesla did with the switch from gas combustion engines to electric vehicles,” he said in an interview with Business Insider, according to the Handelszeitung.
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