Relativity Space has announced that it was ending development of the Terran 1 rocket that failed during its maiden flight last month in favor of developing its larger Terran R launch vehicle.

OneWeb said it can now offer global broadband service following the launch of 36 satellites aboard an Indian LVM III booster on Sunday. Relativity Space looked on the bright side following the failed maiden launch of its new Terran 1 booster. And a new Chinese rocket is set to debut this week.

Space is hard, maiden flights are really hard

Relativity Space’s 3D printed Terran 1 rocket failed to reach orbit on its maiden launch on Wednesday evening, marking the sixth launch failure worldwide in the last four months. It was the fourth failure of a new booster on its maiden flight, and the fourth mishap resulting from an anomaly with the second stage.

The seven launches successfully conducted last week were overshadowed by the decision by cash-strapped Virgin Orbit to pause operations for seven days and furlough nearly its entire staff.

Terran Orbital subsidiary Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems has been awarded a $2.4 billion contract to supply 300 communications satellites to Rivada Space Networks. The company will build 288 satellites for deployment in low Earth orbit along with 12 spares.

Video Caption: Impulse Space, Inc. – leading the development of in-space transportation services for the inner solar system –announced a groundbreaking partnership and launch mission with Relativity Space, Inc., the first company to 3D print entire rockets and build the largest metal 3D printers in the world, to deliver the first commercial payload to Mars. With an anticipated launch window starting in 2024, the historic partnership rapidly advances the companies’ […]

Relativity Space’s Terran 1 booster has arrived at Cape Canaveral in Florida in preparation for its maiden flight later this year. Dedicated Mission: $12 million First Stage: 9 Aeon enginesSecond Stage: 1 Aeon engine Maximum Payload:1,250 kg to 185 km low Earth orbit Nominal Payload:900 kg to 500 km sun synchronous orbit High Altitude Payload:700 kg to 1200 km sun synchronous orbit Firefly Aerospace has shipped both stages required for […]

LOS ANGELES (Relativity Space PR) — Relativity Space, the first company to 3D print entire rockets and build the largest metal 3D printers in the world, is announcing Mariana Garavaglia as its first Chief Business and People Officer. After having served as an advisor to Relativity since summer 2021, in her new role, Mariana will oversee its Talent Acquisition, People, Legal, Security, and Environmental Health and Safety teams.

As a leader known for her ability to catalyze scale and growth, Mariana most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Peloton Interactive, Inc., where she led a variety of key scaling functions from: Enterprise Technology and Global Talent to Security and Environmental Health & Safety. Her role also encompassed core human resources disciplines with a strategic emphasis on talent acquisition, engagement, development, and retention, serving as Peloton’s first Chief People Officer prior to extending her scope to encompass Business and Core Operations over the course of her tenure.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Relativity Space PR) — Relativity Space, the first company to 3D print complete rockets and make the world’s largest metal 3D printer, has announced a major investment in the future of its software-driven manufacturing platform with the appointment of Scott Van Vliet, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering.

In his new role, Scott will lead the integrated software and additive manufacturing teams, overseeing more than 150 employees today and doubling the team before the end of the year to expand the Plant Operating System in Relativity. Relativity’s Factory Operating System is a unified platform that integrates data collection, correlation, machine learning, visualization, and workflow tools to enable faster rates of compound progress across Relativity’s Stargate printers, production plants, test and launch infrastructure, and missile development. As the software division represents a large and growing portion of the company’s talent, the relative recently exceeded 600 employees in total. With teams at Long Beach, Vandenberg, Seattle, Washington, DC, Stennis and Cape Canaveral locations, Relativity is expanding its revolutionary large-scale approach to 3D printing and automation to build a new technology stack for aerospace manufacturing — one capable of building rockets and other products.

LOS ANGELES (Relativity Space PR) — Relativity Space announced today that it has been awarded its first orbital launch contract with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), facilitated by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). This 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) to identify capable commercial solutions for low-cost, responsive access to space “as a service” using launch systems with capacity between 450-1,200 kg to low-Earth orbit (LEO). Relativity’s entirely 3D-printed launch vehicle, Terran 1, meets the DoD’s needs for disruptive launch solutions to orbit.