On the eve of the first launch, Relativity Space seeks to join SpaceX as a "disruptor"

Enlarge / The first stage of the Terran 1 rocket is tested at Launch Complex-16 in Florida. Relativity Space/Trevor Mahlmann

Relativity Space is preparing to deploy its Terran 1 rocket to the Florida launch pad in the coming weeks, setting the stage for its maiden flight.

Although the rocket has a modest range, with the ability to launch approximately 1 metric ton into low Earth orbit, the company plans to use this vehicle as a demonstrator for a much larger booster, the Terran R rocket. This rocket ambitious rocket is intended to be a fully reusable vehicle with a slightly larger payload capacity than SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

"Almost since the beginning of the company, I wanted to build a competitor to the Falcon 9, because I really think it's needed in the market," said Tim Ellis, co-founder and managing director of Relativity Space, in an interview with Ars.

Terran 1's impending test flight may have a playful name: good luck, have fun, but it has a serious purpose. Relativity needs to show customers that its new take on 3D-printed rockets is viable. While ground testing has validated this approach, Ellis knows the litmus test will come with launch, particularly as the vehicle passes through the period of maximum dynamic pressure, max q.

If the mission successfully demonstrates this, Ellis expects more customers to sign up for Terran R, which he hopes to begin flying in late 2024. Pricing for the vehicle is intended to be competitive with the Falcon 9 and to meet the huge demand for transport market launch services, especially after Russia's war on Ukraine removed the Soyuz vehicle as an option for Western companies.

But first.

Terran 1

Relativity recently completed hot firing testing of the first stage of the Terran 1 rocket, and engineers and technicians are in the process of attaching the second stage to the rocket. In a few weeks, the completed vehicle will return to Launch Complex-16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for a static firing test and, assuming all goes well, a launch attempt.

“We are confident in our technology capability to launch this year, and we continue to move towards that,” Ellis said. "But there are a few external factors, as we approach the end of the year, that could impact the schedule for us. It's not a guarantee, but it could."

These external factors include other spaceport users in Florida, including the uncertainty surrounding the mid-November launch of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and blackout periods under the plan. army holiday airspace liberation. This effectively prevents launches around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years due to the high volume of airline flights.

Ellis said the company is making good progress toward obtaining a launch license for “Good Luck Have Fun,” and noted that the Federal Aviation Administration has accepted its debris mitigation methodology as well as its software trajectory analysis.

No privately funded company has ever reached orbit on its very first rocket launch, and Ellis knows that. "While the rocket-loving engineer in me wants to say it's really orbit or nothing for the first flight, I think the business leader in me knows that customers are going to tell us what it's like enough to the first flight."

Enlarge / Relativity recently installed the first of its new "fourth generation" Stargate printers at its headquarters in Southern California. relativity space