The Future of Aerospace Manufacturing: Relativity Space's 3D Printing Revolution

Relativity Space, a company that has made 3D printing a key part of its rocket development and manufacturing process, has recently showcased its latest achievement with the launch of the Terran 1 rocket. This milestone marks an important step forward for the company, which is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in aerospace manufacturing.

According to CEO Tim Ellis, Relativity Space's investment into 3D printing as a core part of its manufacturing process was put to the test with the company's first rocket, the Terran 1. This rocket was nearly entirely 3D printed by the world's largest metal 3D printers it belongs to. "So, with Taran one it was really like a concept car for relativity," Ellis explains. "We pushed the 3D printing technologies we've invented way beyond what anybody else has done." The Terran 1 rocket stood at an impressive 110 feet tall and had a diameter of seven and a half feet. It was 85 percent 3D printed, with everything from the rocket engines to the turbo pumps and valve components made using this technology.

The use of 3D printing in aerospace manufacturing is not new, but Relativity Space has taken it to a whole new level. The company's custom 3D printers were used to create parts such as the rocket's fuselage, which is the majority of the rocket that you see. "A lot with our own custom 3D printers we developed in-house with our own custom aluminum Alloys and then a bunch of other types of 3D printing went into this," Ellis explains. The only parts that were not 3D printed were things like movable parts, electronics, batteries, rubber gaskets, and seals, as these 3D printers work at a rate of pounds per hour.

The impact of 3D printing on the aerospace industry cannot be overstated. According to Ellis, it is going to disrupt technologies and industries that have very high dollar per pound products. "30 opinion is really going to go disrupt technologies and industries," he says. "That's rockets to start and then overall there's about a trillion dollars of Aerospace Manufacturing Systems that I really believe will be heavily disrupted by 3D printing in the next couple years."

In addition to its work on the Terran 1 rocket, Relativity Space has also successfully used 3D printing to build complex parts such as engines. This process offers several significant advantages, including faster data collection and testing of products. "We have six different design iterations of the engine that are all 3D printed," Ellis explains. "And we're building one almost every two or three months and actually testing it so that way we get data much faster on the product and how it's really operating."

The company's latest achievement, the Terran R rocket, is even bigger than its predecessor. This rocket has a payload capacity of 23.5 thousand kilograms, which can fit several school buses in the payload fair. It is also significantly larger than the Terran 1 rocket, with about six times as much 3D printing.

Ellis's long-term goal for Relativity Space is to use 3D printing technology to establish a presence on Mars. He was inspired by SpaceX's mission of making humanity multi-planetary and going to Mars. "Seven years ago there were only a 13-year-old company but they were still the only company in the world that had this mission of making humanity multi-planetary and going to Mars," Ellis explains. "I was really captivated by that idea but I thought there really need to be more like a dozen to 100 companies to go make Mars happen in our lifetime."

Ellis believes that intelligent 3D printing, perhaps using AI or other enabling technologies, will be the way we build stuff on other planets. "So somebody's going to make this company and it could be us," he says. Ellis left The Origin at 25 and started Relativity Space, which is already making a big leap towards that eventual long-term vision.

What do you think of 3D printed rockets? Let us know in the comments as always. Thanks so much for watching I'm your host Jesse oral see you next time with the fam

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis rocket was nearly entirely 3D printed by the world's largest metal 3D printers it belongs to a company called relativity space which has made 3D printing a key part of its rocket development and Manufacturing process we spoke to the company's CEO Tim Ellis to learn about what makes 3D printing and Rockets such a good match what lessons they learned from their first launch and what comes next for this budding Aerospace company relativity's investment into 3D printing as a core part of its manufacturing process was put to the test with the company's first rocket the Taran one which launched earlier this year so with Taren one it was really like a concept car for relativity so we pushed the 3D printing Technologies we've invented Way Beyond what anybody else has done so this rocket was 110 feet tall seven and a half feet diameter and it was 85 percent 3D printed so everything from the rocket engines the turbo pumps valve components and then the whole tall fuselage which is most of the rocket that you see was all metal 3D printed a lot with our own custom 3D printers we developed in-house with our own custom aluminum Alloys and then a bunch of other types of 3D printing went into this the only Parts Ellis says weren't 3D printed were things like movable Parts Electronics batteries rubber gaskets and seals because these 3D printers work in pounds per hour output rate so 30 opinion is really going to disrupt Technologies and industries that have very high dollar per pound products so that's Rockets to start and then overall there's about a trillion dollars of Aerospace Manufacturing Systems that I really believe will be heavily disrupted by 3D printing in the next couple years the company has also successfully used 3D printing to build complex Parts like engines a process which offers some significant advantages for example just this year we have six different design iterations of the engine that are all 3D printed and we're building one almost every two or three months and actually testing it so that way we get data much faster on the product and how it's really operating and then incorporate that data and learnings into a new design that's 3D printed very rapidly right after the Terran 1 launched into space back in March while the rocket didn't reach orbit due to the second stage failing to ignite the launch ushered in a series of historic firsts and set up a the company to embark on its next challenge of building the significantly larger and reusable Terran R rocket terenari is 23 and a half thousand kilograms of payload so this can fit several school buses in the payload fair this is a very big rocket and each Terran R has about six times the amount of 3D printing as each Terran won Ellis says his eventual long-term goal involves the use of 3D printing technology to establish a presence on Mars similar to one of Relativity spaces competitors I was watching SpaceX land rockets and dock with the International Space Station I thought it was incredibly inspiring and seven years ago there were only a 13 year olds company but they were still the only company in the world that had this mission of making humanity multi-planetary and going to Mars I was really captivated by that idea but I thought there really need to be more like a dozen to 100 companies to go make Mars happen in our lifetime and that it's inevitable somebody is going to be the company that develops an industrial base on Mars I thought intelligent 3D printing perhaps using AI or other enabling Technologies are pretty clearly going to be the way we build stuff on other planets and so somebody's going to make this company and it could be us and so at 25 I left the origin started relativity and and here we are today making a pretty big leap already towards that eventual long-term Vision what do you think of 3D printed Rockets let us know down in the comments as always thanks so much for watching I'm your host Jesse oral see you next time with the famthis rocket was nearly entirely 3D printed by the world's largest metal 3D printers it belongs to a company called relativity space which has made 3D printing a key part of its rocket development and Manufacturing process we spoke to the company's CEO Tim Ellis to learn about what makes 3D printing and Rockets such a good match what lessons they learned from their first launch and what comes next for this budding Aerospace company relativity's investment into 3D printing as a core part of its manufacturing process was put to the test with the company's first rocket the Taran one which launched earlier this year so with Taren one it was really like a concept car for relativity so we pushed the 3D printing Technologies we've invented Way Beyond what anybody else has done so this rocket was 110 feet tall seven and a half feet diameter and it was 85 percent 3D printed so everything from the rocket engines the turbo pumps valve components and then the whole tall fuselage which is most of the rocket that you see was all metal 3D printed a lot with our own custom 3D printers we developed in-house with our own custom aluminum Alloys and then a bunch of other types of 3D printing went into this the only Parts Ellis says weren't 3D printed were things like movable Parts Electronics batteries rubber gaskets and seals because these 3D printers work in pounds per hour output rate so 30 opinion is really going to disrupt Technologies and industries that have very high dollar per pound products so that's Rockets to start and then overall there's about a trillion dollars of Aerospace Manufacturing Systems that I really believe will be heavily disrupted by 3D printing in the next couple years the company has also successfully used 3D printing to build complex Parts like engines a process which offers some significant advantages for example just this year we have six different design iterations of the engine that are all 3D printed and we're building one almost every two or three months and actually testing it so that way we get data much faster on the product and how it's really operating and then incorporate that data and learnings into a new design that's 3D printed very rapidly right after the Terran 1 launched into space back in March while the rocket didn't reach orbit due to the second stage failing to ignite the launch ushered in a series of historic firsts and set up a the company to embark on its next challenge of building the significantly larger and reusable Terran R rocket terenari is 23 and a half thousand kilograms of payload so this can fit several school buses in the payload fair this is a very big rocket and each Terran R has about six times the amount of 3D printing as each Terran won Ellis says his eventual long-term goal involves the use of 3D printing technology to establish a presence on Mars similar to one of Relativity spaces competitors I was watching SpaceX land rockets and dock with the International Space Station I thought it was incredibly inspiring and seven years ago there were only a 13 year olds company but they were still the only company in the world that had this mission of making humanity multi-planetary and going to Mars I was really captivated by that idea but I thought there really need to be more like a dozen to 100 companies to go make Mars happen in our lifetime and that it's inevitable somebody is going to be the company that develops an industrial base on Mars I thought intelligent 3D printing perhaps using AI or other enabling Technologies are pretty clearly going to be the way we build stuff on other planets and so somebody's going to make this company and it could be us and so at 25 I left the origin started relativity and and here we are today making a pretty big leap already towards that eventual long-term Vision what do you think of 3D printed Rockets let us know down in the comments as always thanks so much for watching I'm your host Jesse oral see you next time with the fam\n"