Relativity Space is a private space company that is developing 3D printed rockets, artificial intelligence, and autonomous robotics. They have raised about $1.34 billion and have a valuation of about $5 billion.
They plan to launch the Terran R from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base starting in 2026.
It is a SpaceX Falcon 9 class rocket. They also plan to reuse the first stage.
It is two-stage, 270-foot-tall rocket with an 18-foot diameter and a 5-meter payload fairing. Terran R is a Falcon 9 class vehicle with a reusable first stage. Terran R will be able to launch 23,500kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) or 5,500kg to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), both with downrange landing, or up to a maximum payload of 33,500kg to LEO in expendable configuration. Horizontal integration to the vehicle will be supported through a standard Payload Attach Fitting (PAF) interface, with payload integration configurations available for clusters of constellation satellites, single large satellites, or other unique spacecraft.
Nextbigfuture at substack has more details on Relativity Space.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
6 billlion market valuation and haven’t launched even 1 rocket yet?
Almost such bubble as online network “lying social”, from the biggest liar there is.
TDS much…? Amazing you were able to bring Trump hate into a discusion about rocket engines.
As for the company I wish them well. I am huge Musk fan but see competition as a good thing in the market place.
All of these rocket companies are competing for NEO and Lunar missions, at most. Starship needs 10 refueling fillups just to reach the Moon, according to angry astronaut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8at_sDtZW0w. This is not going to happen. Musk is being stretched like Gumby and the demands and increasing competition from all his companies will make it all but impossible for SpaceX to safely master a refueling challenge that’s not even been attempted even once, before he’s simply too old to get there. So far, his starships have all exploded before getting into orbit, but that’s not even the real problem.
The real competition for far-flung missions with anything more than a skeleton Apollo type crew landing on the Moon, which we’ve already done 6X and which has little scientific value after all the robotic missions since then, will be from atomic rockets, starting in the late 2020s.
See: https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a39970172/the-pentagons-nuclear-thermal-rocket-is-getting-serious/
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvSAfrCp2Vo&t=59s
just for starters. There’s a lot more going on with all the big government names behind it: DARPA, NASA, etc.
Chemical rockets are a dead end for any significant payloads. This has been disguised by the vast technological improvements and miniaturization of robotic missions. But humans and their requirements can’t be shrunk down much beyond what’s sent to the ISS, and that take Space Shuttle like “truck” capacity, which, again, constrains missions to LEO, with a massive space station in orbit to “collect” things from 100s of trips. This paradigm may be stretched to Lunar missions, but only with great difficulty and maybe by sacrificing reusability and thereby vastly increasing cost. The basics of weight-to-thrust and weight-to-distance physics haven’t changed much since Apollo.
More news on nuclear rockets:
“The potentially groundbreaking propulsion system is being developed by Arizona-based Howe Industries. To reach high velocities within a shorter period of time, the pulsed plasma rocket would use nuclear fission—the release of energy from atoms splitting apart—to generate packets of plasma for thrust.
It would essentially produce a controlled jet of plasma to help propel the rocket through space. Using the new propulsion system, and in terms of thrust, the rocket could potentially generate up to 22,481 pounds of force (100,000 Newtons) with a specific impulse (Isp) of 5,000 seconds, for remarkably high fuel efficiency.”
See:
https://gizmodo.com/nasa-pulsed-plasma-rocket-advanced-concept-mars-1851463831
History is not kind for people betting agains Elon.
What? Stretched too thin?
What- you think he is personally building the stuff?
Nuclear will be the ender of many smaller rocket firms, especially because nuclear interplanetary freighter tugs/taxis remaining in different planet orbits to pick/transfer heavy loads from/tp Big rockets in low planetary orbits, these will be big rockets like starship.
Spacex will still have a pivotal role in enabling the nuclear revolution because not to many people want nuclear rockets fly through the atmosphere.
Also nuclear has the Power and ISP budget to enable some crazy mission like telescope on the solar gravity lens or drive a 100 ton needle and crash the needle at hypervelocity * 100 ton like a bunker buster through the icecap of Enceladus southpole so you have an instanst 100 ton submersible to explore the ocean under the icecap.
Things we can can only imagine now
Competition is a good thing.
Oversupply vs. limited demand is good for the buyer, bad for the producer/supplier. Then it all comes down to survivorship for the suppliers.
Maybe there is more demand than I perceive.
We shall see.
Regardless, my money is on SpaceX…