American aerospace company Relativity Space is ready to launch its 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
rocket 3D printing Based in California, space of relativity is about to launch in Florida for its first orbital mission. This is an important test for fledgling ventures to reduce manufacturing costs.
rocket Terran 1, At 35 meters tall and 85% 3D printed, it is ready to take off from the US Space Force launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
“The launch we are preparing is an opportunity to demonstrate many things at once”, said Josh Brost, Vice President of Revenue at space of relativitycalled Terran 1 as “The largest structure printed in 3D”.
The theory of relativity was scheduled to launch the rocket this Wednesday at 1:00 PM ET (3:00 PM Chile time), but was eventually pushed back to this Saturday from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Chile time). I was.
Player ready? yes. The next launch trial period will be on Saturday, March 11th from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET. #GL HF pic.twitter.com/lBXCm9nNeG
— Relativity Space (@relativityspace) March 8, 2023
3D printing is on the rise
Widely used in a variety of industries, the 3D printing process involves machines that autonomously “print” successive layers of soft, liquid, or powdery materials that rapidly harden or fuse together. form a solid three-dimensional object. The designs for these objects are scanned from digital plans.
Relativity is one of many U.S. rocket companies competing to meet the growing demand for cheaper launch vehicles. The company is using the cost savings from giant robotic 3D printers to streamline its rocket production line.
Most of their rivals have focused on cutting costs by building rockets designed to be reusable like boosters. falcon 9 produced by space x of Elon Musk .
According to Brost, using a 3D printer will allow Relativity to speed up much of the manufacturing process and, if necessary, make changes to improve the rocket’s design after flight. This eliminates the need for a complex chain of supplies, potentially slowing the rocket down. upgrade.
The expendable Terran 1 is designed to carry a 1,250 kg satellite into low-Earth orbit, but widespread demand has led Relativity to develop a larger, reusable rocket. Terran R he hopes to fly in 2024.
Satellite mega constellation plan
A new demand driver now is the so-called satellite mega-constellation plans of companies such as: SpaceX, OneWeb, Amazon, of Jeff Bezos to deploy tens of thousands of internet transmission satellites in low earth orbit.
SpaceX will fly its own rocket to put the network into orbit star link , while Amazon and OneWeb plan to use similar large rockets from various launch companies for their own satellites. Meanwhile, OneWeb will launch its next-generation satellite with Relativity’s Terran R, the two companies announced last year.
Long Beach, Calif.-based Relativity has a launch contract worth about $1.65 billion for both rockets, most of which is for the Terran R.
Source: Biobiochile
