The third try will not have been good. The first 3D-printed rocket launched from Cape Carnival, Florida in the United States on Wednesday but failed to reach orbit due to an “anomaly” during second-stage separation, according to a live broadcast.
This third failure follows two previous attempts that were canceled at the last minute due to technical problems.
This mission, dubbed ‘Good luck, have fun’ (‘Good luck, have fun’ in French), is under scrutiny as 3D printed rockets could represent a small revolution in the launcher industry.
California startup Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket was designed to collect data and show that a 3D-printed rocket could withstand the rigors of launch and spaceflight.
Overall, 85% of the rocket’s mass has been 3D printed, and the company is aiming for 95% in the future.
Main advantage of the technology: Great simplification of the manufacturing process and thus reduction in costs.
With its large 3D printing robots, the company claims to divide the number of parts by 100 compared to a conventional rocket. It also highlights the speed of the process: 60 days from raw material to finished product.
Terran 1 is 33.5 meters high and just over 2 meters in diameter. Its first stage has nine motors, also 3D printed.
Its goal: to be able to bring 1250 kg into a low earth orbit (e.g. small satellites), which makes it a light launch vehicle. But this first flight does not carry a payload.
The rocket should have reached the point where the aerodynamic force exerted on the machine is greatest (max Q, in technical jargon) 80 seconds after launch. According to the young boss of Relativity Space, this is the crucial phase of the flight.
“We have already demonstrated on the ground what we hope to prove in flight – that 3D printed structures can withstand these forces when the dynamic pressure and stress on the vehicle is at its highest,” tweeted Tim Ellis in early March.
“Unprecedented”
After the separation of the first stage of the rocket, the second should continue its path until reaching Earth orbit – 8 minutes after launch.
Achieving that level on first flight would have been “unprecedented,” said Tim Ellis.
In fact, the rocket uses Methalox as fuel, a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas (essentially methane). If it had managed to reach orbit, it would be the first rocket to use this fuel to do so.
Relativity Space, which promotes the long-term vision of a multi-planet humanity, argues that it is the fuel “of the future” that is easiest to produce on Mars.
United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan and SpaceX’s Starship rockets under development must also use this fuel.
A first attempt to launch Terran 1 was aborted on March 8 due to a fuel temperature problem.
Then, on March 11, the launch was twice aborted in the last seconds of the countdown, first because of an automation problem, then because of a fuel pressure problem.
booming demand
As successful as Terran 1’s maiden flight was, the data collected will also be used for the development of its big sister: Terran R.
This larger rocket, also developed by Relativity Space, must be able to carry 20,000 kg into low orbit.
According to Tim Ellis, the company has already signed $1.65 billion worth of deals, most of them for Terran R.
One of them was passed with the company OneWeb, whose satellite constellation has to provide Internet from space.
This type of missile “is clearly the most important market opportunity for the remainder of the decade given the current severe shortage of payloads in this class,” Tim Ellis tweeted.
A satellite operator can wait years before getting a seat on the big Arianespace or SpaceX rockets.
Dozens of start-ups have therefore been founded in recent years to meet the booming demand.
According to the specialist company Euroconsult, the number of satellites launched has increased from around 120 in 2012 to over 2,700 in 2022.