Lift-off for world's first 3D printed rocket

On March 23, 2023, at 03.25 UTC, the world witnessed the launch of the first-ever 3D printed rocket, the Terran 1, from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The rocket's maiden voyage comes after twice being postponed due to technical glitches. Nevertheless, experiencing a malfunction mid-flight, the unmanned spacecraft saw the mission failing to attain low Earth orbit.

Standing at 33.5 metres tall, with a diameter of 2.2 metres, 85 percent of Terran 1's mass was manufactured using metal alloys and 3D printing technology. With ambitions of increasing the percentage of 3D printing to 95 percent, Relativity Space remains proud of building the world's largest 3D printed object, Terran 1.

Relativity Space claims that its 3D printed rockets aren't only constructed using 100 times fewer parts but can also be produced from raw materials in just 60 days.

With the help of robotics and AI, the company's already got another project in the pipeline, building Terran R - a larger and fully reusable spacecraft. Propelled by liquid oxygen and liquid natural gas, which are considered to be the future of rocket fuel, the prospects of fuelling voyages to Mars are even brighter.

The Terran rockets are intended as space freighters carrying cargo payloads to the moon and beyond. Despite the launch's failure to attain the desired orbit, the technical program manager for Relativity Space, Arwa Tizani Kelly, is over the moon.

Arwa Tizani Kelly: "As you heard from our launch director, we did have an anomaly with stage two during flight. But maiden launches are always exciting and today's flight was no exception. Although we didn't reach orbit, we significantly exceeded our key objectives for this first launch, and that objective was to gather data at max q, one of the most demanding phases of flight, and achieve stage separation."

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