Currently, 3D printing technologies make it relatively easy and fast to create almost anything – from simple dishes to houses and even people’s hearts. Therefore, it is quite logical that such technologies are also used in the development of rockets. Last week, the space company “Relativity Space” planned to carry out a very ambitious, but at the same time historic mission – an orbital flight with the world’s first 3D printed rocket “Terran 1”. Unfortunately, the rocket failed to take off from the ground, putting an end to this mission at the very beginning.
Terran 1 was scheduled to launch Saturday from the Cape Canaveral launch site. If the mission was successful, Terran 1 would become the largest 3D printed object to reach orbit. It was put together from about 1000 printed pieces, the whole process of creating the rocket took only 60 days (usually a rocket is built in 1-2 years). It is important that 85% of the rocket was printed using the world’s largest 3D metal printers, so it cannot be called completely printed. It should also be noted that “Terran 1” weighs around 9300 kg, is 33.5 meters high and almost 23 meters wide. It was expected to deliver about 1,270 kg of cargo into orbit during the mission.
Terran 1’s first launch attempt took place on Wednesday last week, which was unsuccessful. So a second attempt was made on Saturday, March 11, but also without success. It appears that the reason for the failure is related to the operation of the engines, about which Relativity Space promises to provide more detailed information later. At the same time, the company emphasizes that the rocket is generally in good condition.
According to Relativity Space, this type of mission using a 3D printed rocket currently costs around $12 million. The company also plans to improve its rockets and in the future hopes to make them from 90% printed parts. Either way, if Terran 1 is able to lift off the ground in the near future, it will be a major breakthrough in spaceflight.
