Launch of world’s first 3D printed rocket aborted at the last minute

At 110ft tall, the Terran 1 is the largest 3D printed object to attempt orbital flight

The anticipated launch of the world’s first 3D-printed rocket was aborted at the last minute on Wednesday reportedly due to a temperature issue with the launcher’s upper stage.

The rocket, designed by California-based Relativity Space, was scheduled to be launched to orbit from a former missile site at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Named Terran 1, the small rocket, measuring about 110ft, uses 3D-printed engines and a 3D-printed structure to lift up to 1,250kg into low-Earth orbit.

But with just over a minute remaining on the countdown, onboard flight computers were halted and the company called it a day after trying to fix the problem.

The company tweeted that the launch attempt was scrubbed due to exceeding launch limits for propellant thermal conditions.

“When using liquid natural gas, the methane needs time to get to the right concentration. This is why our next attempt will be a few days from now,” it noted.

“The team is working diligently toward our next launch window in the coming days,” the company added.

Relativity Space confirmed on Twitter that its next launch attempt window is on 11 March from 13:00 to 16:00 ET.

The company has claimed its 3D-printed rockets will significantly reduce costs, charging about $12m per launch.

“In comparison, SpaceX’s ubiquitous Falcon 9 rocket can lift more than 22,000kg into orbit and costs about $67m per flight,” Relativity Space had said earlier, although SpaceX payloads are much heavier.

While SpaceX had been flying rockets with 3D parts for years, they are not to the extent of Relativity Space’s new rocket.

Currently, about 85 per cent of Terran 1 is reportedly made of printed 3D parts and the company said it will increase this fraction in future versions.

The rocket, also nicknamed “Good Luck, Have Fun” (GLHF), was not carrying a commercial payload in its planned flight.

Relativity Space decided to skip the final static fire test considered an important step of pre-flight testing.

“By not completing static fire, we accept the increased likelihood of an abort on our first launch attempt,” the company had said.

“But if all systems are performing nominally, we would rather release and launch during our next operation than continue to wear the vehicle through additional testing on the ground,” it noted.