U.S. DoD contracts Relativity’s 3D-printed Terran rocket Terran 1. Image: Relativity
Paris, 16 March 2021. – Launch number nine: The rocket designer Relativity Space won its first orbital launch contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), facilitated by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Californian company announced.
The DoD was looking for a “low-cost, responsive access to space”, using launch systems with a capacity between 450-1,200 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO), Relativity said, and its entirely 3D-printed launch vehicle, Terran 1, “meets the DoD’s needs for disruptive launch solutions to orbit”.
The contract was awarded as a Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Launch Enterprise follow-up effort to the DoD Space Test Program (STP) Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (RALI), Relativity said.