California’s Relativity Space’s Terran-1 rocket launched Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, it failed to reach its orbit.
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 22/03/2023 at 21:55, updated 23/03/2023 at 04:58
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The Terran 1 rocket of California’s Relativity Space. HANDOUT/Portal
The third attempt will have been the good one. The first 3D-printed rocket partially made its maiden flight on Wednesday, March 23, after two previous tests 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.
Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. A total of 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.
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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.
Place 1,250 kg in low Earth orbit
It must be capable of launching 1,250 kg into low Earth orbit (e.g. small satellites), making it a lightweight launch vehicle. But this first flight does not carry a payload. The rocket must reach the point at which the aerodynamic force exerted on the machine is highest (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. However, Terran 1 failed to reach orbit due to an “anomaly” during second stage separation, according to a live broadcast Wednesday. Achieving this milestone on first flight would have been “unprecedented” according to Tim Ellis. In fact, the rocket uses Methalox as fuel, a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas (essentially methane). If it manages to reach orbit, it would be the first rocket to use that fuel to do so.
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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.
Regardless of the success of Terran 1’s first flight, the data collected will also be used to develop its big sister, Terran R. This larger rocket, also developed by Relativity Space, must be able to carry 20,000 kg in low orbit. According to Tim Ellis, the company has already signed contracts worth $ 1.65 billion, most of them for Terran R. One of them was passed with the company OneWeb, whose satellite constellation has to provide Internet from space.
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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 more than 2,700 in 2022.