A 3D printed rocket has been launched, but not into space

The world’s first rocket launched this week in Florida that came out almost entirely from a 3D printer. And although (spoiler alert) the rocket didn’t reach its ultimate goal — space — it was, according to the initiators Relativity Success nonetheless. After launch, just before midnight Wednesday, everything seemed to go according to plan. Terran 1 has come a long way. Then unfortunately an error occurred.

The missile failed in the second stage

When the first stage “burned” and separated from the rest of the rocket at an altitude of more than 75 kilometers and a speed of more than 7,300 km / h, the engine of the second stage also seemed to work as planned. However, shortly after that it failed due to a malfunction. As a result, Terran 1 no longer had enough thrust to reach space and its intended orbit around Earth. Fans can watch the live stream of the launch below. The video starts a minute before take-off.

Three times no luck

The launch was the third attempt to launch Terran 1 into space. In two previous attempts, the launch was aborted before the missile left the launch pad. Problems with weathering—unusual for rocket launches—and fuel cooling failed in both of these attempts. Anyway, on the third try, the missile pretty much hit its final target, but unfortunately it wasn’t magic three times.

Terran 1 was a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 2 meters and a total length of 33 meters. More than three quarters (85%) of the land area1 is made up of parts made using a third generation printer. This included ten engines, nine in the first stage and one in the second stage.