{"id":24406,"date":"2022-12-21T22:22:29","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T14:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/terran-1-and-terran-r-testing-in-full-swing-before-relativitys-debut\/"},"modified":"2022-12-21T22:22:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T14:22:29","slug":"terran-1-and-terran-r-testing-in-full-swing-before-relativitys-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/terran-1-and-terran-r-testing-in-full-swing-before-relativitys-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Terran 1 and Terran R testing in full swing before Relativity\u2019s debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first fully integrated static fire test of Relativity Space\u2019s Terran 1 rocket is expected any day now as the company prepares for its first-ever launch from Florida. Following a series of tests of the rocket\u2019s first stage, the second stage and nosecone were assembled, and the entire vehicle has now rolled back to the pad on the transporter\/erector.<\/p>\n<p>While Relativity\u2019s near-term focus remains on Terran 1\u2019s maiden flight, the company is also planning for and even testing hardware for its next rocket, the larger and fully reusable Terran R.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Terran 1 Testing Ahead of Maiden Flight<\/p>\n<p>Terran 1\u2019s pre-launch testing has been taking place at Space Launch Complex 16 (SLC-16) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the same pad that the rocket will lift off from on its first flight. During the first series of tests, only involving the first stage of the rocket, a purpose-built test stand was placed on the launch pad rather than the launch mount that will be used for flight.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 583px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=tgmetsfan98&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1551673477500784640&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2022%2F12%2Fterran-testing%2F&amp;sessionId=760c4fc0947113050a0d327ce66d40afcfdffe81&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"1551673477500784640\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A pair of spin-start tests on Terran 1\u2019s first stage was completed on July 18 and 21 of this year. This was followed by hot fire tests, which not only started the nine Aeon 1 engines but allowed them to reach full thrust before shutdown. The first of these hot fire tests occurred on July 27 and lasted six seconds.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Terran 1 First Flight Updates<\/li>\n<li>Commercial Space Forum Section<\/li>\n<li>L2 Future Vehicles Section<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once complete engine ignition was achieved, the next goal was to work toward firing the first stage for the full duration that will be needed during the flight from liftoff to stage separation. This type of \u201cmission duty cycle\u201d test is usually done on dedicated test stands rather than on the launch pad, but the test stand being used in place of the launch mount at SLC-16 enabled Relativity to streamline operations and complete long-duration firings on the launch pad.<\/p>\n<p>Space tourism guides<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Space Shuttle<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>NASA mission patches<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo our knowledge, no other company has ever actually done a full flight duration test on the actual launch mount, or launch pad, at Cape Canaveral,\u201d said Relativity CEO Tim Ellis, in an August interview with NASASpaceflight.<\/p>\n<p>The second hot fire test on Aug. 22 reached the full planned duration of 20 seconds, setting the stage for the full flight duration attempt. The first such attempt on Sept. 20 reached a duration of 57 seconds, and another on Sept. 23 reached 82 seconds.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90705\" class=\"wp-image-90705 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0E07308B-7310-44E3-908B-808E3E43BDB9.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0E07308B-7310-44E3-908B-808E3E43BDB9.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0E07308B-7310-44E3-908B-808E3E43BDB9-350x211.jpeg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0E07308B-7310-44E3-908B-808E3E43BDB9-582x350.jpeg 582w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0E07308B-7310-44E3-908B-808E3E43BDB9-768x462.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0E07308B-7310-44E3-908B-808E3E43BDB9-1920x1155.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/0E07308B-7310-44E3-908B-808E3E43BDB9-1170x704.jpeg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-90705\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first stage of Terran 1 completes an 82-second hot fire test on Sept. 23, 2022. (Credit: Relativity Space)<\/p>\n<p>It was at this point in the test campaign that Hurricane Ian necessitated that the vehicle be rolled back into the hangar at SLC-16. After reviewing the data gathered to that point, the teams decided to proceed with the integration of the rocket\u2019s upper stage and nosecone and rolling back out to the pad for a final short-duration checkout test before launch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat one should be very quick and really not take that long\u2026 Really, you\u2019re just looking for different modal frequencies or other things that may look a little bit different than when you don\u2019t have stage 2 on top. But you also, at that point, don\u2019t really need to go retest a lot, or add a lot of risks, frankly, at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Preparing for this test involved removing the test stand from the pad and installing the actual launch mount that will be used to release the rocket at the exact time needed to attempt orbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest difference is, and the biggest added complexity, is all that the hydraulics that you have to have in order to have accurately timed release of the rocket,\u201d said Ellis. \u201cA lot of that timing has to be within milliseconds in certain cases to make sure you release the rocket cleanly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Where's Starship? Terran 1 Gets Closer to Launch\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xhWYZIryiQ0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>(Video caption: NASASpaceflight\u2019s latest aerial photography of Cape Canaveral, including SLC-16, as well as footage from on the ground at the pad and Relativity\u2019s launch control center.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Once integrated, the rocket was rolled out and raised vertical at the pad using the transporter\/erector for the first time, rather than using cranes to lift the vehicle onto the test stand.<\/p>\n<p>Once fully integrated static fire testing is complete, the vehicle will be lowered back to horizontal and rolled back into the hangar for final checkouts before launch. The first flight is nicknamed \u201cGood Luck Have Fun,\u201d in reference to the common phrase used in video gaming, just like the Terran family of rockets references the popular game StarCraft.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90708\" class=\"wp-image-90708 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_4367-wmarked-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_4367-wmarked-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_4367-wmarked-350x203.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_4367-wmarked-605x350.jpg 605w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_4367-wmarked-768x445.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_4367-wmarked-1920x1111.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_4367-wmarked-1170x677.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-90708\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A closeup of the aft end of Terran 1, showing the \u201cPrinted in the USA\u201d text in reference to the rocket\u2019s 3D-printed construction. (Credit: Julia Bergeron for NSF)<\/p>\n<p>The flight has no payload or even a payload fairing, as the goal of the flight is simply to prove the strength of the additive manufacturing methods used and the vehicle\u2019s performance. Instead, a nosecone is on top of the second stage, to be replaced with an encapsulated payload on operational missions.<\/p>\n<p>Terran R Development Continues<\/p>\n<p>While the team\u2019s current focus is on flying Terran 1 in order to begin delivering payloads to orbit, work also continues developing the company\u2019s bigger Terran R rocket. While experience gained via Terran 1 will inform development and designs for Terran R, Ellis said that the company does not plan to cancel the smaller vehicle in favor of the larger one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the biggest difference is there is actually a huge market for that payload size. And Terran 1 is quite a bit larger than Falcon 1 ever was. So Terran 1\u2019s baseline payload is 1,250 kg payload to LEO, 900 kg payload to a Sun-synchronous orbit. So that\u2019s pretty significant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One way the company plans to leverage the Terran 1 vehicle as a testbed is to replace the nine Aeon 1 engines on the rocket\u2019s first stage with a single Aeon R, the engine that will power Terran R. This will act as both an upgrade to Terran 1 and a way to gain flight experience ahead of Terran R.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to put a single Aeon R engine on Terran 1 as a block upgrade. So that\u2019s the game plan; we\u2019re going to replace the nine engines on Terran 1\u2019s aft section with a single Aeon R.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aeon R has been the highlight of Terran R development to date, including subscale and full-scale testing. These tests have been conducted at Relativity\u2019s facilities at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-2\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 575px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=tgmetsfan98&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1605066435021004800&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasaspaceflight.com%2F2022%2F12%2Fterran-testing%2F&amp;sessionId=760c4fc0947113050a0d327ce66d40afcfdffe81&amp;siteScreenName=NASASpaceflight&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\" data-tweet-id=\"1605066435021004800\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In December, the Aeon R team reached the milestone of the first full-scale hot fire test, firing a full-size Aeon R thrust chamber at 35% power. Future tests will increase the power level and add other components, such as turbopumps, until a complete engine can be tested.<\/p>\n<p>The first tests of a complete engine are expected as early as 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Terran R will not only serve as a mass-to-orbit upgrade over Terran 1 but will also add reusability to enable low-cost launch services for a variety of missions, including sending a commercial payload to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve sold $1.2 billion dollars worth of commercial contracts on Terran R over the last three months, and we\u2019ve not finished all of the contracts currently in work for that vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>(Lead photo: The fully integrated Terran 1 vehicle on the pad at SLC-16. Credit: Thomas Burghardt for NSF)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first fully integrated static fire test of Relativity Space\u2019s Terran 1 rocket is expected any day now as the company prepares for its first-ever launch from Florida. Following a series of tests of the rocket\u2019s first stage, the second stage and nosecone were assembled, and the entire vehicle has now rolled back to the [&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":[7785,1685,8504,2759,1687],"class_list":["post-24406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-relativity","tag-relativity-space","tag-slc-16","tag-terran-1","tag-terran-r"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24406"}],"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=24406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}