Relativity Space will be attempting to set records with the launch of the 110-foot-tall Terran 1 rocket tomorrow afternoon. The company, established in the year 2015 by Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone is renowned for its revolutionary 3D printing technologies: Terran 1 is 85 percent 3D printed by mass and this includes the engines for the rocket. The company has placed big bets and is now pursuing even greater goals in the near future, which includes Relativity Chairman Tim Ellis echoing SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Martian goals.
“Our longer-term goal is that we’d like to develop the industrial infrastructure on Mars and assist in making humanity multi-planetary,” Ellis told TechCrunch.
Relativity Space has had a wild ride to launch
The company has garnered a number of news stories in its eight-year existence. These are 10 of the most memorable highlights in the TC archives.
1. Our first piece about Relativity (2017)
The first time we wrote about Relativity at first in 2017 when the company had just fourteen (!) full-time employees. We are aware that the company is looking to cut the price of rocket launches tenfold through its 3D-printing process.
2. Relativity launches its first launch facility located at Cape Canaveral (2019)
Relativity has been awarded a multi-year contract by the U.S. Air Force to manage rocket launch facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida which is the exact location from where Relativity is hoping to begin the launch of Terran 1 tomorrow.
3. The economic impact of Relativity’s game changer (2020)
T.C.’s Darrell Etherington spoke to CEO Tim Ellis about the economics behind Relativity Space, just a couple of months after the company was able to raise $140 million.
4. Long Beach expansion (2020)
Relativity is riding high on the momentum. Relativity revealed its latest digs in Long Beach, California. It is a massive warehouse-style building located in Long Beach, California.
5. Relativity has raised $500 million in the last year in its quest to set the sights on Mars (2020)
The company announced the huge increase in November of 2020 which was soon followed by aggressive growth in staff, facilities, and well…everything.
6. The reveal of Terran R (2021)
Relativity finally revealed what will come immediately after Terran 1: Terran R A much bigger and more powerful 3D-printed rocket – with the ability to reuse it in full.
7. Another record-breaking funding round with an $4.2 trillion valuation (2021)
In less than a year, after securing $500,000, the business was able to raise an additional $650 million to help scale the growth of Terran R.
8. Presenting the factory’s 1 million-square-foot footprint (2021)
Relativity expanded its footprint by 10 times the size with the addition of a 1 million-square-foot location located in Long Beach.
9. A OneWeb deal, and $1.2 billion of Terran R launch contracts (2022)
We reported in the last quarter of 2013 that Relativity signed a massive agreement with British satellite operator OneWeb as well as the fact that it was carrying $1.2 billion of firm Terran R launch contracts – contracts the company managed to get to the ground before sending one rocket into the orbit.
10. last but not least The mission to Mars using Impulse Space (2022)
Relativity has announced new plans together with the company Impulse Space, founded by SpaceX’s former chief of propulsion, CTO John Sullivan, and spacecraft, to launch a spacecraft on Mars in 2024 (yes you heard that right).
