Relativity postpones Florida launch of 3D-printed Terran rocket
CTV
California-based startup Relativity Space called off the planned debut launch of its 3D-printed rocket in Florida on Wednesday over fuel temperature concerns, delaying a key test of the company's novel strategy for cutting manufacturing costs.
California-based startup Relativity Space called off the planned debut launch of its 3D-printed rocket in Florida on Wednesday over fuel temperature concerns, delaying a key test of the company's novel strategy for cutting manufacturing costs.
The 110-foot-tall (35-metre) Terran 1 rocket, 85% of which was fabricated from a 3D-printer, had been scheduled to lift off from a U.S. Space Force Base launch pad in Cape Canaveral on Wednesday afternoon. Dwindling "propellant thermal conditions" in the rocket's second stage during a three-hour launch window ultimately forced a scrub, the company said on Twitter.
The company said the rocket's next launch attempt is scheduled for Saturday in a window from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST (1800 to 2100 GMT).
Relativity, one of a handful of U.S. rocket startups competing to meet the growing demand for cheap launch services, has bet on the cost savings it expects to achieve using giant, robotic 3D-printers to simplify its rocket production lines.
Most of its rivals have focused on lowering costs by building rockets designed to be reuseable, such as the Falcon 9 boosters produced by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The inaugural Terran 1 launch is intended to validate the company's supposition that its rocket's 3D-printed structure can withstand the forces of a launch off Earth.
"The launch that we're preparing for is an opportunity to demonstrate a whole bunch of things all at once," Josh Brost, Relativity's senior vice president of revenue, told Reuters ahead of the planned launch attempt.
