Second attempt at launch of 3D-printed rocket from Relativity Space scrubbed

[Buster's Uncle]

Second attempt at launch of 3D-printed rocket from Relativity Space scrubbed on Saturday
Mike Snider,  Sat, March 11, 2023 at 4:33 PM EST
USA TODAY





Hopefully the third time will be the charm for Relativity Space and its 3D-printed rocket's inaugural blast into space.

The Long Beach, California-headquartered space company aborted Saturday's launch attempt of its 110-foot-tall Terran 1 rocket at about 4 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. This second attempt at liftoff for the rocket – 85% of which is made with massive 3D printers – had been scheduled during a three-hour window of 1-4 p.m. EST at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

An initial launch attempt Wednesday was scrubbed "due to exceeding launch commit criteria limits for propellant thermal conditions on stage 2," the company said.

After the mission was scrubbed, Relativity Space posted on Twitter that more information would be forthcoming about the "cause of aborts today." Earlier Saturday morning, the launch crew said on Twitter that "upper-level winds are a potential concern today and we are continuing to monitor."

Relativity Space's next launch attempt has not yet been set, but it will take at least two days for teams to replenish propellants at Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 16, reported Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network.


What is the 3D-printed rocket's mission?

The Terran 1, which is a prototype with no customer payload, is scheduled to liftoff, then undergo a stage separation, second engine start and cutoff, and achieve orbit.

The goal of the initial launch is to prove the 7.5-feet diameter, 3D-printed vehicle is durable enough for launch and space flight.

Liftoff and getting over the Atlantic and passing Max-Q, the point in the flight when the rocket will be at maximum stress would "be a big inflection point," the company said in a discussion of launch success on Twitter. "Why? Because it's the phase of flight where the structural loads on the vehicle are the highest, passing this point in flight proves our hypothesis: 3D printed rockets are structurally viable!"



Relativity Space is seeking to be the first to send a 3D-printed rocket into space.


Should the Terran 1 – dubbed "Good Luck, Have Fun" or "GLHF" – make it to low Earth orbit (LEO), Relativity Space will consider it "would be a total home run," Space.com reported, citing an email from Relativity Space representatives.

If that goal is met, Relativity would be the first privately-held, venture-backed space company to have successfully done so on its first launch, the company said.

“We have our own in-house team that has designed this rocket from a blank piece of paper, built our own factory with the world's largest metal 3D printers, our own custom aluminum alloys. We build our own rocket engines," said Tim Ellis, cofounder and CEO of Relativity Space. "Now we're about to launch it."

This launch is just the first step in Relativity's interstellar plan to go to Mars.

Last year, the company announced plans with Impulse Space of El Segundo, California, to develop a Mars Cruise Vehicle and Mars Lander on a Terran R rocket no earlier than 2024.


https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/3d-printed-rocket-relativity-space-172439132.html

[Unorthodox]

More proof of the actual design than the 3d printing I think. 

I'm 99% sure 3d printed parts have launched multiple times already.  But, 3d printing allows some motor designs that wouldn't be possible via other means.  I don't really see the allure of 3d printing the casing, though, which it sounds like they're doing.  Don't imagine it being a cost/weight savings over 'traditional' casing. 

[Unorthodox]

Looking over scrub reports: 

Thermal anomaly stage 2 (happens) cancelled first launch

High winds Meh.
Boat in launch safety zone Double Meh. 
Shut down after engine fire for out of spec performance after warming up.  *THIS is interesting/concerning* want to see details, but they went ahead and tried again leading to...
Failure of separation system.  Reading between the lines the ordnance system didn't like being turned on, turned off, and trying to turn on again.  (Happens.) 

All this after this was SUPPOSED to be an engine test on their original schedule but pushed to a launch test, because they're on contract to launch satellites later this month. 

[Unorthodox]

Warmup scrub.  Based on tweets from company one of the engines was under pressure.  Software patch fixed swiftly, hence the restart.  "software patch fixed" = running the gas generator at a higher tolerance.  Ya know, things that woulda been figured out with another engine test... 

[Buster's Uncle]

So the problems are all from going too soon, for business reasons?

[Unorthodox]

Pretty much.