Relativity Space has just launched what is described in the scientific circles as the world's first 3D-printed rocket. About 85 percent of the approximately 110-foot-tall rocket, named Terran-1, was produced using additive manufacturing techniques, also called 3D printing, on the world's largest 3D printer. The company said its ultimate aim was to have over 95 percent of the rocket 3D-printed.
Terran-1 lifted off for the first time from Launch Complex 16 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a mission that took place at 8.25PM EST on March 22, but failed to reach a suitable height to be able to circle Earth, which is known as orbiting. But that does not minimise the importance of Terran-1 whatsoever.
Explainer: Terran-1 rocket
Terran-1 is a small launch vehicle which was developed by Relativity Space, a US aerospace manufacturing company. It is the world's first rocket built using 3D-printed alloy in fewer than 60 days.
The rocket was equipped with hand-prepped multi-jet fusion (MJF) parts. It was primed and painted using automotive-grade paint and a urethane clear coat. The spacecraft, fuelled by extremely cold liquid methane and oxygen rather than the traditional choice of something like kerosene, liquid hydrogen, alcohol, or hydrazine and its derivatives- emitted a vibrant blue-green glow in the nighttime sky.
Most rockets that are powered by liquid chemicals use two different propellants: fuel and oxidizer. Other than the traditional choices mentioned above, many other fuels have been tested and used. Oxidizers often include nitric acid, liquid oxygen, liquid fluorine and nitrogen tetroxide. Some very efficient oxidizers are liquefied gases, like oxygen and fluorine, which retain their liquid properties only at extremely low temperatures causing problems in them being used in rockets.
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