Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, March 12 (Xinhua)-- US space startup Relativity Space has launched the Terran 1, known as the world's first 3D printed rocket, which was originally scheduled to launch on March 8, but has been delayed until today because the temperature of the second fuel exceeds the standard limit.

As the saying goes, there are unexpected events in the sky. Terran 1 failed to launch during the three-hour window today. The first attempt was delayed due to weather problems, the second was abandoned because a ship was blown to the maritime safety zone by the wind, and the third failed because the engine failed to ignite.

Launch director Clay Walker explained that the rocket's nine Aeon-1 engines briefly ignited, then shut down due to "violation of launch submission standards" and finally "stopped automatically less than half a second before launch." The company later said it was a problem with rocket-level separation automation that caused the ignition to stop.

▲ Picture Source: Relativity Space

Arwa Tizani Kelly, project manager of Relativity Space test and launch technology, said: "our team has given us an amazing opportunity today and we have high expectations for the launch, but we will continue to take a cautious approach so that we can finally see the maximum performance of this rocket or even higher."

The Terran-1 two-stage consumable rocket is made in 3D printing, 110 feet high and 7.5 feet wide, 85% of the parts are made by 3D printing, and the company will increase this proportion to 95% later. The rocket, which runs on methane fuel, has nine Aeon engines in the first stage and one Aeon Vac engine in the second stage, which is priced at $12 million per launch (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 83.4 million yuan).

Of course, the rocket itself can be reused. Originally, if the Terran 1 rocket could be successfully launched, it would mean that it would be the first 3D print rocket to fly into space and the first methane fuel rocket to go into orbit.

In addition, Relativity is already working on a successor to Terran 1, a larger, reusable series of rockets called Terran R.

So far, the company has raised more than $1.3 billion with a valuation of $4.2 billion. It will have headquarters and factories in California, engine testing facilities in Mississippi and launch sites in Florida.

Related readings:

"SpaceX announced a price increase: Falcon 9 about 480 million yuan per launch, Falcon heavy rocket about 700 million yuan."

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