Terran 1, the 3D printed rocket that successfully took off but did not reach orbit

The Terran 1 rocket, the first with most components made of 3d printerstook off successfully last night from Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA), but, after passing the atmosphere, it suffered a failure in the second stage that prevented it from reaching the planned orbit.

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Even so, the takeoff of the rocket, manufactured by Relativity Space, served to demonstrate that 3D printing technologies are viable to withstand takeoff and to successfully withstand Max-Q, the highest stress state for its printed structures, the company highlighted on Twitter.

“Today is a great victory, with many historic firsts”. In the coming days “we will evaluate the flight data and provide public updates”concluded Relativity Space.

After two failed attempts, on March 8 and 11, the rocket Terran 1 lifted off last night at 11:25 pm EDT (3:25 GMT), it rose in a straight line and then arced east over the Atlantic Ocean.

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Two minutes and 50 seconds later, the first stage engines were shut down as planned and the stage was successfully detached.

In the live broadcast, the camera mounted on the rocket showed the second stage engine starting to fire a few seconds later, but it did not seem to ignite at all. Almost 6 minutes after taking off, the company’s commentators confirmed that the vehicle had not reached orbit.

“Our team will carefully analyze the data to determine what has happened”announced one of the commentators.

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Terran, which was not carrying any payloads on this launch, measures 35 meters long and 2.2 meters in diameter, and its engines -also 3D printed- use liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas.

The two-stage expendable rocket, called “Good Luck, Have Fun” (“Good Luck, Have Fun”), has nine Aeon engines in its first stage and an Aeon 1 for the upper stage, and It has the capacity to transport a load of 1,250 kilos to low Earth orbit.

The Terran 1 is built on 85% technology based on 3D printingbut California-based Relativity Space’s goal is to get to 95% on future versions of the rocket, which will be called the Terran R.

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“Like its structure, all of Relativity’s engines are fully 3D printed and use liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid natural gas (LNG), which are not only best for rocket propulsion, but also for reusability”details the company.

The future models prepared by Relativity Space, founded in 2015 by Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, will be reusable, They will exceed 60 meters in height and will be able to transport up to 20,000 kilos of cargo to low Earth orbit.

Source: Elcomercio

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