{"id":17304,"date":"2023-03-22T18:10:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T10:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/relativity-space-launches-3d-printed-terran-1-rocket-but-falls-short-of-orbit\/"},"modified":"2023-03-22T18:10:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T10:10:06","slug":"relativity-space-launches-3d-printed-terran-1-rocket-but-falls-short-of-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/relativity-space-launches-3d-printed-terran-1-rocket-but-falls-short-of-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Relativity Space launches 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket but falls short of orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Methane-tinged blue flames blaze from the engines on Relativity Space\u2019s Terran 1 rocket during liftoff from its Florida launch pad. (Relativity Space \/ Michael Baylor)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More than seven years after it was founded in a Seattle co-working space, Relativity Space launched its first 3D-printed rocket on a test mission that began with a triumphant glow but fell short of complete success.<\/p>\n

Relativity\u2019s two-stage, 110-foot-tall Terran 1 rocket rose from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station\u2019s Launch Complex 16 in Florida for a flight test dubbed \u201cGood Luck, Have Fun,\u201d or GLHF.<\/p>\n

The startup\u2019s first-ever launch brought frustration as well as fun.<\/p>\n

Liftoff was originally scheduled for March 8, but that countdown was called off 70 seconds before launch due to a malfunctioning valve in the ground equipment responsible for conditioning the rocket\u2019s liquid-oxygen propellant.<\/p>\n

Fixes were made, and Relativity tried again on March 11. After a string of delays and one false start, the countdown was aborted at the end of the day\u2019s launch window when the automated launch system registered second-stage fuel pressure that was just a bit lower than the specified range. Relativity Space\u2019s co-founder and CEO, Tim Ellis, said the launch team made \u201csoftware redline tweaks\u201d after the second scrub.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s countdown was temporarily held up due to concerns about upper-level winds and a wayward boat interfering with range safety, but no technical issues were reported. Terran 1 finally made its ascent into the night sky at 11:25 p.m. ET (8:25 p.m. PT).<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at that blue fire!\u201d said launch commentator Arwa Tizani Kelly, referring to the glow of rocket\u2019s methane-tinged exhaust.<\/p>\n

Because the primary aim of this flight was to put a completely new launch vehicle through its paces, no customer payload was placed on the rocket. Instead, a metal memento from Relativity\u2019s first 3D-print job was flown.<\/p>\n

The flight plan called for telemetry to be sent down from the Terran 1 as it climbed toward its planned 125-mile-high (200-kilometer-high) orbit, and then for the stages to descend back through the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The first stage\u2019s main-engine cutoff and stage separation appeared to go according to plan, drawing yips of delight from the launch team. But the second stage suffered an anomaly, and the rocket fell short of reaching orbit. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we didn\u2019t reach orbit, we significantly exceeded our key objective for this first launch, and that objective was to gather data at Max-Q, one of the most demanding phases of flight, and achieve stage separation,\u201d Tizani Kelly said. \u201cToday\u2019s flight data will be invaluable to our team as we look to further improve our rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow launch commentator Raichelle Aniceto said the flight data would be analyzed in the days ahead to determine the cause of the anomaly.<\/p>\n

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