More Updates As Relativity Closes In On Its First Launch
A first launch is both an extremely exciting and nerve racking moment for companies within the space industry. Relativity space over the past few years has been working to reinvent the manufacturing process among other things. All of which work towards the greater goal of improving access to space by increasing reliability, and decreasing the time and cost to reach orbit.
In the last few weeks, Relativity has continued to provide updates on their progress towards the first orbital test flight of Terran 1. Only weeks from now we are expecting to see a launch that will have a big impact not only on Relativity but possibly the space industry as well. This being said, reaching orbit is an immensely difficult task that few have successfully achieved.
We recently saw Astra fail to reach orbit with a launch vehicle that has had successful launches before. Even very successful companies such as SpaceX had a lot of trouble reaching orbit on its initial launches. Relativity will likely face similar challenges. Here I will go more in-depth into the recent updates from the company, what they are still working on, and when we should expect to see Terran 1 launch.
Recent Updates
At the current rate, it seems like almost every day Relativity is providing more updates on its progress and what’s next leading up to the launch. Specifically, some of the most recent updates began just over a week ago on June 10th. Here Relativity tweeted saying, “Stage 1 in Cape Canaveral, FL”. This tweet included multiple images of the stage within the hanger at the launch site. It showed the process of moving the stage and the crews working on it. On the same day, Relativity tweeted again this time mentioning, “Check out this thread of behind-the-scenes #snaps of Stage 1 in the hangar at Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, FL! Special shoutout to @johnkrausphotos for capturing the progress our world-class team is making to prepare #Terran1 for first launch.” In addition to the rocket arriving, the launch site itself has been an important piece of infrastructure for Relativity that the company has been working on over the past few years. John Kraus tweeted pointing out, “LC-16 at Cape Canaveral, the site of Relativity’s debut flight of the Terran 1 rocket.” By now the site is practically 100% ready and just waiting for Terran 1 to be rolled out in the future.
The next update came only a few days ago on June 14th. CEO Tim Ellis tweeted about a finished stage print and paint. This included a close up photo of the stage where you could see the print pattern and the small imperfections left from the process. Finally, later that day Relativity tweeted mentioning, “Check out this QD (Quick Disconnect) Separation Test recently conducted at our facilities in #LongBeach. The Stage 2 QDs allow launch operations to fill the tanks and communicate with the vehicle while on the pad, but to be successful, it must separate at launch!” This included a short video of the disconnect test. This tweet is a great example of one of many unique procedures that need to go perfectly on launch day in order for it to be a success. This being said, Relativity seems to be very confident in the upcoming launch and is getting close to the big day. Based on the updates over the past few weeks alone, it’s clear the launch is making impressive progress.
Terran 1 & LC-16
Now that we know more about the recent progress Relativity has been making, we can highlight the rocket and launch site which will be put to the test not long from now. As of right now, Relativity is scheduled for its first launch of Terran 1, called “GLHF“ (Good Luck, Have Fun), from Launch Complex 16 (LC-16) in Cape Canaveral in summer 2022. This launch of Terran 1 is the first orbital attempt by Relativity and will not include a customer payload. As a two-stage, 110ft. tall, 7.5 ft. wide, expendable rocket, Terran 1 is the largest 3D printed object to exist and to attempt orbital flight. Working towards its goal of being 95% 3D printed, Relativity’s first Terran 1 vehicle is 85% 3D printed by mass. Terran 1 has nine Aeon engines on its first stage, and one Aeon Vac on its second stage. Like its structure, all Relativity engines are entirely 3D printed, and use liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid natural gas (LNG), which are not only the best for rocket propulsion, but also for reusability, and the easiest to eventually transition to methane on Mars. As one of the few LOX/LNG fueled rockets in the industry, Terran 1 is racing to be the first LOX/LNG rocket to fly.
As partially mentioned prior, the launch will happen from LC-16 in Cape Canaveral Florida. This was a launch complex built for use by LGM-25 Titan missiles, and later used for NASA operations before being transferred back to the US military and used for tests of MGM-31 Pershing missiles. Six Titan I missiles were launched from the complex between December 1959 and May 1960. These were followed by seven Titan II missiles, starting with the type’s maiden flight on March 16, 1962. The last Titan II launch from LC-16 was conducted on May 29, 1963. It was announced on January 17, 2019, that Relativity Space had entered a 5-year agreement to use LC-16 for its Terran 1 orbital launch vehicle and eventually its Terran R. After receiving access to the site, Relativity began working on it to make it support Terran 1 for its first and future launches.
Focusing back on Terran 1, there are a lot of different components and manufacturing processes that will be put to the test on this first launch. One of which is the primarily 3D printed Aeon engines. The Terran 1 features 9 Aeon engines on the first stage and a single AeonVac on the second stage. Relativity’s Aeon engines are designed, assembled and tested in house. Except for the second-stage nozzle extension, each of Terran 1’s 10 engines is based on a common design— enabling simplified and repeatable manufacturing and acceptance testing. Aeon engines are fueled by liquid natural gas and liquid oxygen and operate using the gas generator engine cycle. Each engine uses two turbopump assemblies for thrust and mixture ratio control: one for liquid natural gas and one for liquid oxygen. The thrust chamber is regeneratively cooled with liquid natural gas, which is then injected into the main combustion chamber and burned with liquid oxygen to produce the required thrust. By now, Aeon has completed 500 plus test fires.
In terms of Terran 1’s performance, the rocket provides direct-injection and multi-burn launch services to a variety of target orbits, delivering as much as 1,500 kg into orbit. Relativity selects which launch site supports each mission based on customer-specified orbit requirements. Terran 1 is built for high injection
accuracy, and its standard mission design includes trajectory and separation analyses as well as collision avoidance maneuvers and deorbit as required. Typical circular mission design includes four burns: Stage 1 burn through main engine cutoff; Stage 2 burn through stage engine cutoff followed by a coast to apogee; Stage 2 burn to circularize; and Stage 2 burn to deorbit. Relativity highlights that the design of Terran 1 provides a predictable and controlled launch environment allowing for simplified payload design requirements. Terran 1 can support both industry-standard and custom interfaces, using commercially available adapter and separation hardware in addition to mission-specific designs. Environmental control systems maintain clean, thermally controlled payload environments. Terran 1 has a single-string avionics system designed using a combination of flight-proven, off-the-shelf components and in-house designs. The avionics system includes, but is not limited to, a flight computer, global positioning system (GPS), inertial measurement unit (IMU), telemetry processor, custom data acquisition and vehicle control processors, high speed sensor suite, batteries, and cameras. The avionics suite is duplicated on the test bench with a full hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) system to simulate full missions in order to exercise hardware, software, and algorithm performance in a test-like-you-fly environment. Relativity develops ground and flight software in-house and thoroughly exercises it using HITL tests prior to deployment to a flight vehicle.
Lastly, in order to maximize flexibility, the avionics system includes a bussed, modular infrastructure that makes it possible to rapidly add or subtract components to meet changing vehicle configurations. They designed the avionics system to leverage component and architecture commonality across both stages in order to reduce development time and simplify vehicle operations. All of which will play into the upcoming launch and its results.
Conclusion
A lot is going on throughout the entire space industry. Relativity Space has been especially exciting to watch as they continue to make some of the final preparations before the first orbital test attempt of Terran 1. Over the past few weeks, they have provided constant updates giving us a better idea of when we should expect this launch to happen. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.
