{"id":11027,"date":"2023-03-12T00:37:33","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T16:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/relativity-space-scrubs-second-launch-attempt-for-terran-1-rocket\/"},"modified":"2023-03-12T00:37:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T16:37:33","slug":"relativity-space-scrubs-second-launch-attempt-for-terran-1-rocket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/relativity-space-scrubs-second-launch-attempt-for-terran-1-rocket\/","title":{"rendered":"Relativity Space scrubs second launch attempt for Terran 1 rocket"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Watch a replay of our live coverage of the countdown and launch attempt of Relativity Space\u2019s first 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket during a three-hour launch window opening at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) Saturday, March 11. The Terran 1 is awaiting liftoff from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on its inaugural test flight. Follow us on&nbsp;Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>[tabby title=\u201dSFN Live\u201d]<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0YWYReboz4g\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>[tabbyending]<\/p>\n<p>Relativity Space got within a half-second of launching its first 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket Saturday from Cape Canaveral, but the countdown aborted after engine startup and the startup aerospace company stood down from its second launch attempt.<\/p>\n<p>The rocket\u2019s nine methane-fueled Aeon 1 engines ignited at 2:42 p.m. EST (1942 GMT) Saturday, but shut off moments later just a half-second before the command to open hold-down restraints, an irreversible action that would commit the two-stage Terran 1 rocket for liftoff from Launch Complex 16 at&nbsp;Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.<\/p>\n<p>The company said the countdown automatically aborted when a computer detected an apparent issue with the rocket\u2019s \u201cstage separation automation.\u201d Ground teams uplinked new software to the rocket to fix the glitch, then tried again to launch the Terran 1 rocket at 4 p.m. EST. But the countdown stopped again at T-minus 45 seconds when computers detected a slightly low pressure in the second stage kerosene fuel tank.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_61211\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-61211\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-61211\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311aeon1firing.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311aeon1firing.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311aeon1firing-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311aeon1firing-678x390.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311aeon1firing-768x442.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-61211\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nine Aeon 1 engines fire on the Terran 1 rocket\u2019s first stage moments before the countdown abort Saturday. Credit: Relativity Space<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Relativity\u2019s ground team called off the launch attempt because they had reached the end of the day\u2019s launch window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe team went HARD today and we intend to do so during our next attempt,\u201d the company tweeted. \u201cMore to come on the new launch date and window soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mission is a demonstration for Relativity\u2019s Terran 1, a 110-foot-tall (33.5-meter) launcher designed to haul more than a ton of cargo into low Earth orbit. The Terran 1 is aimed at the commercial launch market for small to mid-sized satellites, making Relativity one of several privately-developed smallsat launch companies coming online in the last few years.<\/p>\n<p>Relativity stopped the mission\u2019s first countdown Wednesday just 70 seconds before liftoff, when data indicated cryogenic liquid oxygen on the second stage of the Terran 1 was too warm. The company set up for another try Saturday, allowing several days to condition propellants before the next attempt.<\/p>\n<p>The Terran 1 will try to become the first 3D-printed, methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a number of firsts here potentially on this rocket,\u201d said Josh Brost, vice president of revenue operations at Relativity Space. \u201cIt has the chance of being the first liquid natural gas \/ liquid oxygen rocket to make it to orbit. It has, by far, the highest 3D-printed content of any rocket in history. We\u2019re sitting at about 85% by mass, where I don\u2019t think any other rocket has gone past maybe 4%.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_61139\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-61139\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-61139\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311relativityterran1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311relativityterran1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311relativityterran1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311relativityterran1-678x452.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/20230311relativityterran1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-61139\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Relativity Space\u2019s Terran 1 rocket on Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: Relativity Space \/ John Kraus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Relativity Space has nicknamed the Terran 1\u2019s test flight as \u201cGood Luck, Have Fun.\u201d It won\u2019t carry any customer satellites, but will attempt to fly into a 124-mile-high (200-kilometer) orbit about eight minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n<p>The Terran 1 rocket could become the first methane-fueled launcher to reach orbit if the eight-minute flight goes well, beating two much larger rockets \u2014 ULA\u2019s Vulcan and SpaceX\u2019s Starship \u2014 scheduled to attempt their first full-scale test flights in the coming weeks or months.<\/p>\n<p>Tim Ellis, co-founder and CEO of Relativity Space, said methane is the \u201cpropellant choice of the future, especially for reusable rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Methane is a more efficient fuel than kerosene, which is used on SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket, Russia\u2019s Soyuz launcher, and ULA\u2019s Atlas 5. It also burns cleaner and leaves less residue inside an engine than kerosene, easing refurbishment and reuse between missions.<\/p>\n<p>Before the first Terran 1 has even left the launch pad, Relativity started development of a larger fully reusable rocket called the Terran R, a vehicle the company says will become a \u201cpoint-to-point space freighter capable of missions between the Earth, moon and Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watch a replay of our live coverage of the countdown and launch attempt of Relativity Space\u2019s first 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket during a three-hour launch window opening at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) Saturday, March 11. The Terran 1 is awaiting liftoff from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}