3D printing spaceship

Relativity Space

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FACTORY OF
THE FUTURE

ROCKETS BUILT AND FLOWN IN DAYS

Relativity's proprietary Factory of the Future centers on Stargate, the world’s largest metal 3D printers, that create Terran 1, the world’s first 3D printed rocket, and the first fully reusable, entirely 3D printed rocket, Terran R, from raw material to flight in 60 days. Relativity’s Stargate printers’ patented technology enables an entirely new value chain and innovative structural designs that make Terran 1 and Terran R possible. By developing its Factory of the Future and rockets together, Relativity accelerates its ability to improve design, production, quality, and speed.

Zero fixed tooling and radical part count reduction

LEARN ABOUT TERRAN

POWERING THE STARGATE PRINTER

METALLURGY

Relativity developed multiple proprietary alloys custom designed for 3D printing to meet mission-critical performance.

UNIFORMITY

Parts are inspected during and after printing to ensure they meet the highest standards of uniformity and quality.

THE FUTURE IS 3D PRINTED

For 60 years, aerospace manufacturing has relied on large factories, fixed tooling, complex supply chains, and extensive manual labor to build costly rockets comprised of 100,000+ parts in 2 years or longer.

To accelerate innovation in the industry, Relativity built its Factory of the Future, the first aerospace platform to automate rocket manufacturing, vertically integrating intelligent robotics, software, and data-driven 3D printing technology. Incorporating Stargate, the world’s largest metal 3D printer with AI-driven controls, our Factory of the Future continuously optimizes production, resulting in greatly compounded quality and time improvements, lower costs, and product designs previously not possible.

Relativity is an application-layer 3D printing company that is starting with rockets, and will extend its Factory of the Future to all of aerospace.

Rigid Factories, Fixed

tooling & HIGH Labor Costs

100,000+ Part Count

24 Month Build Time

48 Month Iteration Time

Complex Supply Chain

High Physical Complexity

ADAPTABLE, SCALABLE

AUTONOMOUS ROBOTICS

<1,000 Part Count

2 Month Build Time

6 Month Iteration Time

Simple Supply Chain

Software Defined Factory

CHANGING THE WAY ROCKETS ARE BUILT AND FLOWN

Custom designed

for printing

High strength alloys specially designed for Stargate printers
Physical properties designed to meet mission-critical structural requirements
In-house material characterization lab for quickly iterating on new alloy development
Relativity developed multiple proprietary alloys custom designed for 3D printing to meet mission-critical performance

UNIFORMITY

Parts are inspected during and after printing to ensure they meet the highest standards of uniformity and quality.

REAL-TIME QUALITY CONTROL

AND PART INSPECTION

Intelligent data-driven manufacturing
Machine learning control algorithms
Collaborative additive and subtractive process enables complex geometry

Collaborative robotics

and path planning

Verification and validation data captured during manufacturing
Flexible and highly scalable system architecture
Cloud-based manufacturing simulation and training

Careers

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CAREERS

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Relativity team members at our hanger at Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, FL

Celebrating World Creativity and Innovation Day 2022, Long Beach, CA Headquarters

Propulsion Test Technician working on our engine at our test facility in Stennis, MS

GO/NOGO polling from the control room at Cape Canaveral, FL

2022 Aerospace Games in Long Beach, CA

You're a multihyphenate human who thrives where engineering meets creativity. And we at Relativity defy labels, exceed expectations, and push through boundaries. From day one, you'll get to work on cutting-edge technology and solve complex problems in creative ways that haven't been done before. By creating the world's largest metal 3D printers, Relativity is taking 3D printing to new heights, starting first by creating orbital rockets, Terran 1, the world's first 3D printed rocket and Terran R, the first fully reusable, 3D printed rocket. With the ultimate goal of building humanity's multiplanetary future, Relativity is expanding the possibilities of the human experience by upgrading humanity's industrial base on both Earth and Mars. Want to create new worlds while protecting our own? Join our team and help create the future of manufacturing.

As a partner of NASA’s Stennis Space Center and the U. S. Air Force, Relativity operates multiple production, test, and launch sites across the country. Whether you want to work at our headquarters in California, our testing facilities in Mississippi, or our launch complex in Florida, Relativity has a spot for you.

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AUDACITY

Challenge convention in pursuit of an expansive future.

RELENTLESSNESS

Focus on achieving intentionally meaningful results.

WONDER

Approach the world with awe and a deep desire to create.

Humanity

Expand possibilities for the human experience in this world – and beyond.

We are committed to our team member’s health, well-being, and growth.

COMPREHENSIVE BENEFIT PACKAGE

We offer high-quality care plans for health, dental, and vision, and provide an additional stipend for employee wellness.

COMPETITIVE COMPENSATION

In addition to receiving a competitive salary and 401(k), team members are eligible to receive equity.

WORK / LIFE INTEGRATION

We observe 11 company holidays and have a generous PTO policy.

TEAM CAMARADERIE

Our team connects and recharges with monthly lunches, game nights, holiday celebrations, and offsite events.

Parental Leave and Family Building

We offer generous parental leave and provide a $10,000 stipend for fertility, adoption, and other family-building benefits.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Our $2,000 annual learning stipend allows you to develop your professional skills and accelerate your career. We also have constant training opportunities, company Lunch and Learns, and access to industry conferences.

We look forward to welcoming you and building a multi-planetary future – for everyone!

We believe empowering people from different backgrounds, identities, and perspectives will advance our mission and enable us to build the highest-performing team possible. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are integrated into Relativity’s DNA, and we continuously take steps to advance our culture of belonging internally and externally.

Through our Inclusion Champion Program and Inclusion 30 Conversations, our team members advocate for DEI and consistently drive our mission forward. By partnering with organizations like the Los Angeles’ Racial Equity & Newly Empowered Workplaces (RENEW) Task Force, Aerospace 2030, and the City of Long Beach’s Space Beach Mentorship Program, we seek to inspire and build a more inclusive future for aerospace.

Relativity team. Pride celebration at Long Beach, CA Headquarters

Full-time positions are listed below. Students can view the list of internships here.

How Relativity Space prints rockets on a 3D printer

Relativity Space co-founder, CEO Tim Ellis / Relativity Space / AFP

Relativity Space is printing a metal space rocket on a 3D printer that it invented specifically for this purpose. Almost all: 95% is printed, and the remaining 5% falls on electronics, seals and some other elements. 3D printing has many advantages. She's cheaper. She's faster. It is made on the spot, no need to wait until the parts are brought from another factory. It is stronger: fewer places for fastening parts. “The Shuttle had 2.5 million parts,” says Relativity Space co-founder Tim Ellis. “According to our estimates, SpaceX and Blue Origin have reduced this number to 100,000 per rocket. We have a thousand - less than in your car.

Many space companies use 3D printing, but only for individual components. Skeptics insist that no one knows how the printed rocket will behave during takeoff and in space. So far, the startup's first rocket, Terran 1, has successfully passed all ground tests. The first copy for a real flight is collected slowly and carefully checked. Now it is ready for 85%. A test flight is scheduled for the end of this year. But investors believe in the idea. Last November, Relativity Space completed a series funding round and raised $500 million. After that, according to research company Pitchbook, with a business valuation of $2.3 billion, Relativity Space became the second most valuable venture capital-funded space company in the world. In 1st place, of course, SpaceX (however, Pitchbook does not include Blue Origin in the rating, which is fully funded by Jeff Bezos).

Relativity Space has since raised another round, raising $650 million, based on a company-wide valuation of $4.2 billion. reusable. After all, competitors do not sleep. Relativity Space is just one of more than a dozen rocket companies created in the last 10 years.

Launch from Mojave

Ellis was born in 1990 in Texas. He is the eldest of three children of an architect father and a dentist mother. As a child, Ellis was fond of Lego and persuaded his parents to buy about 200 sets. He immediately threw away the instructions from them and collected the spaceships he invented himself. Until now, the thumb of his right hand, when at rest, arched back more than his left - Ellis assured the Los Angeles Times that this was the result of long hours when he assembled and disassembled the parts of the designer.

As Ellis got older, he began making amateur films with his friends, mostly action movies, where the characters were often confronted by zombies. He entered the University of Southern California to become a screenwriter. But already in his first year, he became interested in the profession of an aerospace engineer and joined the Rocket Propulsion Lab at the university, which was engaged in the development of rockets.

The University of Southern California is known for its space program. Its alumni include Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong, astronaut and former head of NASA Charles Bolden, and Dana Rohrabaker, chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee. There are several laboratories where students create real rockets and satellites. “I was amazed,” Ellis recalled in an interview with the university website about the first time he went to test the rocket engine he designed and built with his comrades in the Mojave Desert. – I always advise students: take part in practical classes. So you will understand why you need to study this or that differential equation, scheme or line of code.

They wanted to be the first student group to launch a rocket into space. But, having carried out dozens of successful launches, they did not even achieve a suborbital flight - this was done by their successors in 2019, having developed more powerful engines.

Why leave Bezos and Musk

At Rocket Propulsion Lab, Ellis met and became friends with classmate Jordan Noon. Then their paths diverged for a while. Noon went to SpaceX, where he worked, among other things, on the Dragon 2 spacecraft. His emergency rescue system uses a 3D printed SuperDraco engine.

Ellis interned for three summers at Bezos' Blue Origin, and after graduation he was accepted full-time. He convinced Bezos to create a metal 3D printing division (by then many competitors, including Boeing, were doing it). He also created it from scratch. The traditional way of producing parts is turning on a lathe, stamping or casting with a mold. In 3D printing, robotic arms deposit layer upon layer of molten metal. A printed rocket has fewer parts, and therefore, places to connect them using welding, rivets, etc. , and therefore fewer vulnerabilities. Skeptics object that if defects are found, the entire part has to be discarded and its manufacture must be started anew. But Ellis says that Relativity Space has developed a way to restart the printing process from the right place. “3D printed rockets are the future of rocketry and space exploration,” he told Inc. magazine.

Ellis and Noon often called each other and talked about rockets, although they worked for different space companies. They put together a rough cost structure to understand why rockets are so expensive. “80 to 90% goes to wages,” Noon told Bloomberg. 3D printing can dramatically reduce these costs.

Ellis once mentioned that he was going to start a startup to 3D print entire rockets. He later admitted to Inc. that he tried to get Bezos to print more parts for the rocket, but his suggestions were never fully implemented. Then he decided to take up rocket science himself. Noon liked the idea. Both left in December 2015 to create startup Relativity Space.

“I never saw him give up, give up, or fail to solve a problem, even a really difficult one,” Ellis told the Los Angeles Times of Noon. “I knew our startup was going to have a lot of problems, and he was the right person to make it all work.” And Noon noted: “I am strong in technical and practical aspects, and Ellis is strong in creative thinking and non-standard solutions.”

For 1 kg of satellite

Relativity Space received its first money from venture investor Mark Cuban. Ellis and Noon made about 20 attempts to guess Cuban's email address, as Cuban preferred texting to other forms of communication. Some of the letters were returned with a note that such an address does not exist, some got to other people. But one of the addresses turned out to be correct, and Cuban read the letter with the headline "Space Is Sexy: 3D Printing of an Entire Rocket." Ellis and Noon asked for $100,000. Cuban, after five minutes of texting them, agreed to invest $500,000 (although they had to wait two months to check if they were fraudsters). “They are smart, resourceful, driven and always learning,” Cuban wrote in an email to The Times. “These are exactly the traits I look for in innovators.”

First, the startup needed to create a huge 3D printer - there were no models on the market suitable for their purposes. A lot of effort was put into this. But now the latest generation printer is able to print a part up to 32 feet (almost 10 m) high, while the height of the Terran 1 rocket is 115 feet (35 m). Ellis and Noon say that even if the rocket venture fails, they can always cash in on the sale of industrial 3D printers.

Terran 1 /Relativity Space

Created with Cuban's money, the first printer could print parts half the size of the last generation. But the working rocket engine printed on it made an impression on investors. First, they invested almost $10 million in the startup, then another $35 million, and in October 2019d. - another $ 140 million. Ellis and Noon planned to stop there. They did not want to dilute their share, and the funds raised should have been enough for the time before the first commercial launch, if they worked without haste. But in November 2020, another $500 million round of funding was raised. As Ellis explained to CNBC, “the development and scaling of the project needs to be accelerated.” That summer, the startup moved to a new 11,000-square-meter headquarters in Long Beach, California. m, where there will be a site for the production of rockets (the most important thing is that their new printer climbed there in height). Over the past year and a half, the company has more than doubled the number of employees. She now has 400+ people and plans to hire 200 more this year.

Ellis told Inc. that they already have $1 billion in launch contracts from government and commercial entities. Terran 1 can carry up to 1250 kg of payload. This is smaller than SpaceX's Falcon 9, but larger than Rocket Lab's Electron. Relativity Space is targeting a mid-sized satellite niche, much like a car, Ellis said. Its competitors are the Russian Soyuz-2-1V and the European Vega. Or the same Electron, if Terran 1 displays several small satellites at once.

The launch cost of Terran 1 is $12 million, i.e. slightly less than $10,000 per 1 kg. Last year, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin announced a more than 30% reduction in the price of launch services for a number of satellites to the level of SpaceX: to $15,000–17,000 per 1 kg instead of $20,000–30,000.

Target Mars

The competitive advantage of Relativity Space is not only in cost, but also in the fact that it can print a rocket to customer requirements, changing both the diameter of the rocket and the shape of the fairing for the satellite - of course, within the limits allowed by aerodynamics, Forbes explained. And she can do it quickly. Once the technology has been proven in practice, Relativity Space is going to print the rocket in 30 days and take another 30 days for pre-launch tests, Ellis told Scientific American. According to him, even SpaceX takes 12 to 18 months to build a conventional rocket. But Musk claims that his reusable rocket is ready for a new flight 51 days after the previous launch.

So in June, Relativity Space raised another $650 million from investors to accelerate the development of its own reusable Terran R rocket (of course, also almost completely printed on a printer). Its first launch is scheduled for 2024. It will be larger than the first one - 216 feet (66 m) high and designed for 20 tons of payload.

For Ellis and Noon, the main thing is that this project is another step towards interplanetary flights. Musk is looking for a way to get colonists to Mars, and Ellis and Noon are hoping to help them settle on the Red Planet. "If you believe - and I believe - that Elon [Musk] and NASA will send people to Mars, then <...> they will need a whole bunch of things," Ellis told CNBC. “Our printers are reducing the amount of infrastructure that would need to be transported from Earth to Mars in order to establish a colony there,” explained Noon Inc. – Traditionally, you need to send tons of equipment for a factory that will be able to produce factories that, in turn, will produce cars, houses, warehouses . .. In our vision of the future, you simply send a 3D printer to Mars that prints everything using Martian raw materials this is". In a speech to the students of his alma mater, Ellis added: “We are going to 3D print the first rocket made in Mars <...> I don’t see a future in 50 years in which rockets will not be 3D printed. It just doesn't make sense otherwise, because printing is much easier and cheaper."

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3D printing and space: the most important

1. The use of additive technologies in the manufacture of spacecraft parts.

3D printing is used extensively in the aerospace industry for the manufacture of prototypes, engine parts and tooling. Its use allows the manufacturer to reduce the cost of products, improve their performance, and significantly reduce the time of manufacture of individual products. All major companies involved in aerospace production are turning to additive technologies in one way or another.

Mostly 3D printed engine parts. Thus, the American company Aerojet Rocketdyne has signed a contract for 1.6 billion dollars for the production of the RS-25 rocket engine, some of the parts for which will be made on a 3D printer. Production of a single part by traditional methods could take half a year - 3D printing allowed Aerojet Rocketdyne to reduce time and costs, significantly speed up the prototype production process. In addition, the company successfully uses additive technologies in other projects.

Another US company, Rocket Lab, is building New Zealand's first orbital launch station. It is from there that it is planned to launch the world's first rocket, the oxygen-hydrocarbon engine of which is completely printed on a 3D printer.

The list would be incomplete without businessman and designer Elon Musk. His company SpaceX has successfully tested 3D-printed SuperDraco engines to be used in the Dragon spacecraft and is also working on the Raptor Rocket propulsion system.

Other industrial giants didn't stop at engines. Blue Origin used over 400 3D printed parts on New Sheppard's first flight in June 2015.

And Boeing has contracted Oxford Performance Materials, a leading additive manufacturing specialist, to produce 600 3D printed parts for the new Starliner space taxis.

Additive technologies are also used in promising projects of the near future. NASA is using advanced techniques in preparing for a Mars mission: 3D printing is already being used to create prototypes, manufacture parts in space, and even make engine parts for a future ship that will go to Mars.

The Russian aerospace industry is also starting to introduce 3D printing. For these purposes, the Roscosmos Corporation has received a unique domestic 3D printer Router 3131 with a large print field. He will create elements of spacecraft.

2. The use of 3D printing in the production of satellites and devices.

Another direction in the aerospace industry, which we decided to consider separately, is additive technologies in the production of satellites. Unlike a rocket, the cost of a satellite is significantly lower, but it can also be reduced by paying attention to innovative technologies.

Aerospace giant Boeing has done just that by using 3D printing to produce modular satellites. Now one device costs, on average, 150 million dollars - this price is due not only to the high-tech component, but also to the significant cost of the labor force involved in production. When using 3D printers, the cost and production time of satellites are significantly reduced.

Small start-ups and research projects have more modest goals, but 3D printing helps them too. A team of researchers at Northwestern Nazarene University in Idaho awaits the launch of their 3D-printed MakerSat satellite, the first in the state, into space. The dimensions of the device are only 10x10x11.35 cm, and it is created from available polymers for 3D printing (ABS, ULTEM and nylon).

High performance satellite developer Millennium Space Systems recently announced the completion of a pre-production model of the ALTAIR series, which is now being prepared for launch into space. The new technologies used in the design of the satellite will make new space missions possible. For example, 3D printing will save on the cost of sending parts into space and reduce the time it takes to prepare and conduct missions.

Russian scientists also excelled. In 2016, the Tomsk-TPU-120 small satellite was developed at the Tomsk Polytechnic University. When creating the device, scientists and students of Tomsk Polytechnic University used additive technologies - the frame and most of the components are printed on a 3D printer. On March 31, 2016, the 3D satellite left the Earth and settled in orbit.

Juno flew even further. The NASA space station with that name entered Jupiter's orbit in the summer of 2016. This event is also important for 3D printing, as Juno became the first spacecraft with 3D printed parts - titanium waveguide elements manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

3. Space 3D printers.

Astronauts in orbit often cannot provide themselves with everything they need and have to wait for cargo that arrives at the International Space Station (ISS) during scheduled flights. Unfortunately, during this time the crew is not insured against accidents or breakdowns of important systems. 3D printing experiments in space offer the potential to print needed parts if any parts fail in space. This is very important for future flights to Mars and other planets: for a long time, the colonists will not be able to receive help from Earth. Therefore, in the forthcoming expeditions, it is extremely important to use all available opportunities for the manufacture of products on board ships and space stations.

Such experiments have been carried out on the ISS since 2014. It was then that the Zero G 3D printer manufactured by Made in Space was delivered to the American segment of the station. The first print took place on November 24, 2014 and marked a new era in the development of 3D technologies. The printed object was a part of the printer itself, the faceplate of the printhead, symbolizing the ability to one day print a 3D printer in space on a 3D printer. In 2016, another Made in Space printer called the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) was delivered to the ISS.

Since then, print trials on the ISS have taken place regularly. One of the latest ideas was an innovative plan by the Canadian company 3D4MD, which involved printing medical devices, such as splints or surgical instruments, on the ISS. To create devices such as custom splints for broken fingers, 3D4MD's developers could use, for example, measurements taken during the preparation of spacesuits and create a model on Earth. The 3D model can then be sent to the ISS, where the tire will be 3D printed.

Roscosmos is also developing a similar project. An experiment called "3D printing" should confirm the possibility of using a 3D printer in the absence of gravity. This device was created within the walls of the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute and agreed with the engineers of RSC Energia. The printer will go to the ISS in 2018.

Not being able to conduct experiments in space, other powers organize experiments on the ground. A development team from China recently successfully tested the first 3D printer designed for weightless conditions. Many difficult tests were carried out in the French city of Bordeaux.

4. 3D bioprinting in space.

It is known that in outer space there is electromagnetic and radiation radiation that has a detrimental effect on biological tissues. In order for the astronaut to be able to endure all the hardships of the flight, the protection of the ship alone is not enough - it is necessary to think about high-quality medical care. And if it does not help, then it’s about replacing any organs.

That is why the Russian United Rocket and Space Corporation (ORSC) agreed on an experiment to use a 3D bioprinter on the International Space Station (ISS). Its developer was the Russian laboratory 3D Bioprinting Solutionsspecializing in bioprinting technologies. Scientists hope that the magnetic bioprinter will make it possible to create tissues and organs in space. It is expected that the device will be delivered to the ISS by 2018.

There are no analogues of the Russian project abroad yet.

5. Erection of buildings using construction 3D printing.

One of the most basic problems in the construction of buildings on extraterrestrial objects is the limited amount or lack of building material. The only available raw materials that do not need to be transported from our planet are local geological rocks. It is not surprising that scientists are solving the problem of using them in the construction of buildings.

For example, engineers at Northwestern University in the US have found a way to use quality materials in situations where resources are limited. We are talking about the process of additive manufacturing from special materials that mimic the lunar and Martian regolith. These are strong and elastic materials that are produced using powdered substances that resemble rocks from the surface of the Moon and Mars.

It is likely that this technology will be used in the colonization of Mars. Due to extreme temperatures and high radiation on the surface of the "red planet", the first colonizers will need reliable shelters. NASA experts propose using 3D printing to create a "dome" of ice from the surface of Mars, covered with a transparent membrane of fluoroplast-40. One of the main advantages of a water-based dwelling is that such walls protect from cosmic radiation, but do not prevent the penetration of light - this creates some comfort. In addition, when choosing materials, other criteria were taken into account - their strength and reliability, the ability to withstand the difficult conditions of Mars.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is working in the same direction and has already achieved some results. Scientists from the Austrian University of Applied Sciences in Wiener Neustadt managed to 3D print a small needle and a corner wall from JSC-Mars-1A material, which mimics Martian soil.

In addition to serious research, there are quite unexpected projects. So, experts from the ESA we mentioned thought about saving the souls of the first lunar colonists and planned to build a temple on the moon using 3D printing.