A 3D-Printed Rocket Will Soon Be Launched Into Space

NPR

Gone are the days of the big and bulky technology. Now, cars, gadgets, and computers are getting smaller. Rockets, on the other hand, have always remained the same. That is, until recently. Now, there’s a new way of building these things before sending them off to space.

The 3D printer first started out as a machine that would be able to replicate smaller objects. Now, experts have found a way to make a rocket ship with the use of this kind of technology, one that would make rocket building simpler, faster, cheaper, and lighter.

A private space tech firm will soon become the first ever entity to have launched a 3D-printed rocket into space. The said rocket will also technically be considered as the largest 3D-printed object that has ever been created.


The best part about this rocket is that it is completely reusable. This is called the Terran 1 and it actually has already been launched from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral at 1:00 PM US Eastern Time on March 8. The whole event has also been streamed live on a YouTube channel.

This wonderful piece of invention was made by a company called Relativity Space. The people behind it have huge dreams when it comes to lowering the cost and emissions of spacefaring. They decided to make a real-world test of Terran 1 with the use of a rocket made with only 85 percent printed material. However, for the future rockets, it will reach 95 percent and all these will become with additive-manufactured boosters on its body.


What makes this small payload special is the fact that was designed to economize small deliveries into space with the use of all wonderful cost reductions that come from reusability and 3D-printing.

What will act as a fuel for this is a liquid oxygen propellant. This means that this rocket would also be the first of its kind to depart the atmosphere with the use of natural gas fuels. This is meant to prove a vital part of the company’s future missions to Mars because they hope to power the next rocket ships with methane.

Right now, the rocket they have stands 110 feet tall and can carry as much as 2,756 pounds (1,250 kilograms) into space. The Terran R, on the other hand, is a future project that is meant to be made on a much larger scale.

Relativity Space was started by former SpaceX and Blue Origin employees.

 

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