Tim Ellis
3D Printing is building 2 rockets for space
As mentioned earlier, 3D printing technology is used to build space rockets. In addition to Terran 1, other rockets are currently in development or have already been launched that incorporate 3D printing technology.
For example, NASA has been experimenting with 3D printing rocket components since 2013 and has successfully tested 3D printed rocket engine parts. The European Space Agency (ESA) has also developed and tested 3D-printed rocket engine parts for their rockets in addition to government agencies, private space companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are also using 3D printing technology in their rocket manufacturing processes. Relativity Space is building two rockets, Terran 1 and Terran R, at around 1 million square feet area. This is the previous Boeing C-17 plant for manufacturing aircraft.
According to Relativity Space CEO Tim Ellis, ¨This will let us continue to expand our ambitions, and of course, build and develop and fly Terran R.¨Relativity to open a huge factory that measures up to its grand ambitions. 3D printer Relativity Space is expanding, with giant new facility to build reusable rockets. Relativity Space leases 1 million square feet for factory headquarters in Long Beach.
3D printed future for space.
In the future, next-generation for space 3D printing can reduce the parts and improve the speed with smaller size vehicles.
According to Relativity Space CEO Tim Ellis, “Together with our first rocket, Terran 1, our second product, Terran R, will continue to take advantage of Relativity’s disruptive approach to 3D printing – reduced part count, improved speed of innovation, flexibility, and reliability – to bring to market the next generation of launch vehicles. Relativity was founded to 3D print entire rockets and build humanity’s industrial base on Mars. We were inspired to make this vision a reality and believe dozens to hundreds of companies must work to build humanity’s multi-planetary future on Mars. Scalable, autonomous 3D printing is inevitably required to thrive on Mars, and Terran R is the second product step in a long-term journey Relativity is planning. There’s an organic relationship between 3D printing and reusability, and it gives us an unparalleled advantage in designing the best fully reusable rocket possible; over the last year, we found ourselves being asked by the market to accelerate the development of our larger launch vehicle, so we knew it was time to double down on our existing plans and scale the Terran R program even faster and build production capabilities at scale sooner.”
Relativity Space unveils details of larger 3D-printed rocket to launch from Cape Canaveral.
