 | |
| Manufacturer | Relativity Space |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Cost per launch | US$12 million[1] |
| Size | |
| Height | 35.2 m (115 ft) |
| Diameter | 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) |
| Stages | 2 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload toLEO | |
| Altitude | 300 km (190 mi) |
| Orbital inclination | 28.5° |
| Mass | 1,479 kg (3,261 lb) |
| Payload toSSO | |
| Altitude | 500 km (310 mi) |
| Mass | 898 kg (1,980 lb) |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | CCSFSLC-16 VSFB Building 330 |
| Total launches | 1 |
| Failure | 1 |
| First flight | 23 March 2023 |
| First stage | |
| Height | 24.3 m (80 ft) |
| Diameter | 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) |
| Powered by | 9× Aeon 1 |
| Maximum thrust | 920 kN (207,000 lbf) |
| Propellant | LCH4 / LOX |
| Second stage | |
| Height | 8.1 m (27 ft) |
| Diameter | 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) |
| Powered by | 1× AeonVac |
| Maximum thrust | 126 kN (28,300 lbf) |
| Propellant | LCH4 / LOX |
Terran 1 was anexpendabletwo-stagesmall-liftlaunch vehicle developed byRelativity Space. Development began in 2017 and the rocket was retired in 2023.[2] Most structures and components of the vehicle are manufactured with3D printing processes.[3]
Terran 1's first and only launch took place March 23, 2023 fromCape Canaveral, but did not achieve orbit due to a failure of the second stage.[3] Following the failed launch, Relativity retired the rocket in favor of developing the much larger, reusableTerran R vehicle.[4]
Terran 1 consisted of two stages. The first stage is powered by nineAeon 1 engines burningmethane andoxygen propellants (methalox) in agas-generator cycle, each producing 100 kN (23,000 lbf) of thrust. The second stage is powered by a single vacuum-optimized version of Aeon 1,[5] known as AeonVac, producing 126 kN (28,300 lbf) of thrust in vacuum.[6] Both stages areautogenously pressurized.[7]
The vehicle's (notional) payload fairing measures 6.8 m (22 ft) long and 3 m (9.8 ft) in diameter. Payload capacity was specified to be 1,250 kg (2,760 lb) to lower inclination low-Earth orbits and 900 kg (2,000 lb) to aSun-synchronous orbit (SSO).[8][6][9] In any case, the vehicle never carried payloads, its sole launch featured an inert nosecone in place of a functional clamshell fairing.
The primary and secondary structures of Terran 1 were manufactured with Relativity'sStargate 3D printer, which welded structures together from aluminum alloy.[8] 90% of Terran 1 by mass consisted of printed components;[8] Relativity claimed that they could reduce the part count in the vehicle by 100 times compared to traditionally-manufactured rockets and manufacture an entire flight article from raw materials in 60 days.[8][10] Relativity's in-developmentTerran R launch vehicle will utilize the same tooling used to manufacture Terran 1.[5][11]
Relativity advertised a price per launch for Terran 1 of US$10 million in 2019.[12] The advertised price per launch had been increased to $12 million USD in 2021.[5]
In February 2022, Relativity CEOTim Ellis stated in an interview withArs Technica the nine Aeon 1 engines on the first stage could be replaced with a singleAeon R engine with substantially higher thrust. The Aeon R engine is planned to be used on Relativity's much largerTerran R rocket.[13] The upgrade was planned to debut on the fourth flight of Terran 1 before the program was cancelled.[13]
Relativity received aFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) launch license to conduct the first launch of Terran 1, not-earlier-than (NET) 8 March 2023 fromCape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 16.[14] Originally, anotherstatic fire was planned with the full rocket stack before first launch. Relativity believed it performed enough tests and instead attempted a launch.[7] Terran 1's initial flight scheduled for 8 March 2023 was scrubbed due to "exceeding launch commit criteria limits for propellant thermal conditions on stage two". A second launch attempt on 11 March was also scrubbed. Set for 18:00 UTC (14:00 EDT), high upper-level winds prevented liftoff for over an hour. A second attempt at 19:35 UTC (15:35 EDT) was cancelled at T-70 seconds from a boat in the launch safety range. A third attempt at 19:42 UTC (15:42 EDT) was cancelled half a second before liftoff. The engines briefly lit up before shutting down from a "launch commit criteria violation". A final attempt occurred at 21:00 UTC (17:00 EDT). An issue with the automatic stage separation promptly closed the launch window.[15]
Another launch window for Terran 1's initial flight opened on March 23. After holding twice from a boat in the launch safety range, and high upper-level winds, the rocket lifted off at 03:25 UTC (23:25 EDT). Following a nominal liftoff and powered flight of the first stage, the second stage failed to ignite, leading to the loss of the mission. Preliminary investigations blamed the failure on a slower-than-expected valve opening as well as vapor ingestion into the liquid oxygenturbopump causing reduced performance.[4] Although the launch did not orbit, Relativity acknowledged the successful performance of the vehicle's 3D printed structures under flight loads.[16]
Following the loss of the first mission, the company abandoned further plans for Terran 1, instead choosing to focus efforts on developing the much larger reusable Terran R vehicle. Existing payloads on Terran 1 will likely have to be remanifested to Terran R or other flights.[4]
| Flight No. | Date and time (UTC) | Launch site | Payload | Payload mass | Orbit | Customer | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 March 2023, 03:25[2] | LC-16 | None | None | LEO | Test flight | Failure |
| First flight of Terran 1, with the mission name "Good Luck, Have Fun". Instead of a payload, the non-deploying nose cone carried a metal ring, which was an early test article from Relativity's 3D printing process, weighing approximately 1.5 kg.[17] A stated goal for the mission was to demonstrate the viability of 3D printing for major structural components of a rocket, the first such components to be used in an orbital launch attempt. These were proven in flight when Terran 1 passedmaxq and continued to perform nominally. After stage separation, the second stage failed to ignite, ending the mission.[18] | |||||||
| 2 | March 2023 | LC-16 | VCLS Demo-2R | LEO | NASA | Cancelled | |
| $3 million contract for unspecified payload(s) in NASA's Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) 2 program.[19] The ELaNa 42 mission, consisting of three CubeSats, would have launched on this flight.[20] | |||||||
| 3 | 2023 | LC-16 | Undisclosed | Undisclosed | Cancelled | ||
| Third flight of Terran 1, as detailed by Tim Ellis in an interview, would have carried a payload for an undisclosed customer.[13] Would have been last flight of Terran 1 before previously planned block upgrade. | |||||||
| NET 2023 | Rideshare | LEO | Spaceflight, Inc. | Cancelled | |||
| Contract with Spaceflight included first flight in Q3 2021, with option for additional flights in the future.[21] | |||||||
| NET 2023 | Rideshare | 10–350 kg | GEO | Momentus | Cancelled | ||
| The 2019 contract with Momentus included a first flight originally scheduled for 2021, with option for five additional flights in the future. The five flights would have included the launch of a Momentus Vigoride Extended space tug.[22] | |||||||
| NET 2023 | LEO | Mu Space | Cancelled | ||||
| Dedicated launch for mu Space, would have carried a single payload.[23] | |||||||
| NET 2023 | LC-16 /B330 | Rideshare | LEO | TriSept | Cancelled | ||
| Launch site would have been either be Cape Canaveral or Vandenberg. TriSept stated that the launch would have featured one large primary payload accompanied with several smaller payloads.[24] | |||||||
| 2023 | LEO | DoD (STP) | Cancelled | ||||
| Single flight carrying "small U.S. military payload", price not disclosed.[9] | |||||||
| NET 2023[25] | B330 | Iridium NEXT × 1 | LEO (86.4°) | Iridium | Cancelled | ||
| Iridium has ordered a Terran to launch one of the 6 on-orbit spares for theirsatellite constellation. | |||||||
| Telesat (unspecified quantity) | LEO | Telesat | Cancelled | ||||
| Unspecified number of launches for an unspecified number of satellites.[12] | |||||||