3D-printed rocket fails to reach orbit, but still is hailed as success

For a failed rocket launch, there sure was a lot of cheering.

When Relativity Space, a California start-up that aims to compete against SpaceX, finally launched its Terran 1 rocket manufactured almost entirely by 3D printing at 11:25 p.m. Wednesday, it achieved so many of the milestones the company had hoped for.

It lifted off successfully from its pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It survived the perilous moment of maximum dynamic pressure, where speed and the still-thick atmosphere conspire to tear rockets apart. The first stage separated cleanly from the second stage, as commentators on the company’s broadcast cheered it on. But then the second stage engine failed to ignite, preventing the rocket from making it to orbit.

Still, Relativity proved that its technology could survive at least the initial punishing rigors of spaceflight, offering hope amid a bad run for the start-up rocket business. And it vowed to be back at it soon.

From the beginning the company, which was founded seven years ago and backed by more than $1 billion in venture capital investment, had tried to temper expectations, saying that while orbit was the main goal, just getting off the pad would be a success.

The launch was the first of an additive manufactured rocket. About 85 percent of the 110-foot-tall, two-stage vehicle is built using a massive 3D printer, which the company says could be used for many products and ultimately include manufacturing in space.

The company has argued that 3D printing offers several advantages: It eliminates the need to rely on outside suppliers, uses fewer parts and, as a result, has “radically simplified” the rocket science traditionally required to manufacture launch vehicles.

Given the novel technology and the difficulties with maiden flights, the launch marked a significant achievement, said Greg Autry, the director and clinical professor of policy and business at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.

“No entirely new rocket gets to space on launch one, and Terran 1 is the most revolutionary launch vehicle in 60 years,” he said before the launch attempt. “If it simply gets off the pad without the 3D-printed cryotanks rupturing, they will have proved the critical tech behind their additive manufacturing approach. Getting to stage separation would be extra points.”

In a tweet, the company said the rocket survived “the highest stress state on our printed structures. This is the biggest proof point for our novel additive manufacturing approach. Today is a huge win, with many historic firsts.”