{"id":23450,"date":"2020-03-04T21:22:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T13:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/relativity-space-expanding-3d-printed-rocket-engine-testing-at-stennis-space-center\/"},"modified":"2020-03-04T21:22:59","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T13:22:59","slug":"relativity-space-expanding-3d-printed-rocket-engine-testing-at-stennis-space-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/relativity-space-expanding-3d-printed-rocket-engine-testing-at-stennis-space-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Relativity Space expanding 3D printed rocket engine testing at Stennis Space Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eric Berger has published a new profile of the rocket startup Relativity Space for Ars Technica<\/em>, including new reporting on the company\u2019s activity at Stennis Space Center. <\/p>\n

Relativity Space is on a mission to launch rockets assembled through automation and 3D printed components. The company is currently developing its 3D printed Aeon engine and Terran 1 launch vehicle that it plans to fly as soon as 2021.<\/p>\n

Relativity Space operates three Stennis test facilities (E-4, E-3, and now E-2) as well as the Stennis Factory it secured last summer. In the piece, the company discloses their expanded presence in Mississippi for the first time.<\/p>\n

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Initial testing began in December, and components of the new engine are now making their way to Mississippi from Relativity\u2019s factory in Southern California\u2014thrust chamber assemblies, injectors, turbopumps, and more. [David] Giger says he expects to begin conducting tests of the complete engine by this summer.<\/p>\n

For now, however, he\u2019s focused on the thrust chamber. With video monitors showing the Mississippi stand from several different angles, the action is short, hot, and controlled. The igniter turns on, initiating combustion of the methane fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. After two seconds, the thrust chamber shuts down. The purposefully short test was a complete success.<\/p>\n

The test occurred at a new facility that Relativity acquired last August, the E-2 complex at Stennis. The company has not publicly discussed this new facility until now.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

SpaceX is the last occupant of the E-2 facility, which Relativity Space now occupies. The company details all of their Stennis infrastructure on their website:<\/p>\n

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