Relativity Space: General Thread

[Scintillant]

That is like twice the size of hawthorne. Over half the size of Michoud.

I hope they are successfull, but the launch market is not a very steep hockey stick in marketing slides or did I miss something ?

I am always amazed by startups who immediately invest in the biggest production facilities they can afford and then at some point run out of cash. See some EV start-ups, some initially with backing from large Chinese investors. Looks like the VCs are hungry for more space.

Relativity isn't really a rocket company like SpaceX or ULA. It's a 3D printing company whose primary product currently is a rocket. Berger's article talked about how they already were planning on 3D printing things for other industries, so they're probably not gonna be a rocket-only outfit for long. When viewed from that perspective, this move makes a bit more sense - gotta have plenty of room if you're going to be printing rockets and plane parts and bridge components and who knows what else. Still, it's a high-risk high-reward move, and I wish them luck.

[Cheapchips]

Nice to see Relatively continuing to show ambition.

Having spent far to much time looking at how Starship would have been transported out of various build sites before they settled on BC, I wonder how they'll move the 5m Terran R to the sea?

[edzieba]

Some vindication for Terran R's 5m diameter:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1410537178762027009

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/relativityspace/status/1411731721301622784

Happy 4th of July! 🇺🇸 Here at Relativity, the Launch team recently completed the maiden lift of the Strongback at our Cape Canaveral launch pad!

To learn more about recent #news about #RelativitySpace, visit our link in bio.

[Davidthefat]

Relativity updated their site to include a never before published view of the Aeon 1 engine being built up:

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59a8fb50d2b8575fad311abb/1626128217820-M4OKL4TBF4PTOB5DUNV1/Edit_Relativity_Space-7_sm.jpg?format=2500w

edit: attached image

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/relativityspace/status/1414975657478475780

We are picking up stellar momentum here at #RelativitySpace as we work towards #launch! Check out the latest video recap from our maiden lift at Cape Canaveral, where we will launch Terran 1.

For more video updates, subscribe to our YouTube channel! Link in bio.📽️

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/relativityspace/status/1423363174238015488

Stage 1 assimilator welding complete.💥

Here’s a timelapse of several of our 3D prints being welded together to build our Stage 1 tank! #RelativitySpace #Innovation #3DPrinting #Tech #Milestone

[matthewkantar]

https://twitter.com/relativityspace/status/1423363174238015488

Stage 1 assimilator welding complete.💥

Here’s a timelapse of several of our 3D prints being welded together to build our Stage 1 tank! #RelativitySpace #Innovation #3DPrinting #Tech #Milestone

So they require all of the gear for printing, AND all of the gear and jigs for welding? Saving seem like they will be elusive?

[edzieba]

If by "all the gear and jigs" you mean "what appears to be a commercial large-diameter pipe welder". There are no stiffening jigs required, as the stiffeners are already installed as printed. There are no ring forming jigs, as the rings are printed to size (this is no desktop FDM printer where part shrinkage is a mystery compensated for by random guesswork). There are no external alignment jigs required, as you can print the outer roll boss right onto the part. Crane them on, clock them, then run the welder to full circumference, as you would any other pipe.

[Parker Huntington]

[mihirneal]

can someone explain what Tim meant by reverse warping? It's at 5:30

[Davidthefat]

can someone explain what Tim meant by reverse warping? It's at 5:30

Software to compensate for warping from thermal distortion. So they characterized how the material warps as it cools down and they know what their intended final geometry is. They compensate for that natural warping by placing the material down in the "warped" geometry knowing that it will naturally warp into place.

ANSYS has software to predict that thermal distortion that other companies use: https://www.ansys.com/products/additive/ansys-additive-print

[trimeta]

At around 11:54 into that video we get a glimpse of Terran R's tank dome, with a scalloped design which would be entirely infeasible using traditional manufacturing. I'm not a rocket scientist and can't assess whether this is actually better, but this is one answer to the question "why would you 3D print tanks, they're not even doing anything fancy with hoops and stringers, so bending a single piece of metal is sufficient."

Of course, doing fancy things with domes (including Y-joints) don't explain why you wouldn't 3D print the domes exclusively but then use traditional approaches for the long portions, but maybe once you've got the 3D printer set up you might as well use it for the whole thing.

[JEF_300]

Idle thought while watching the Veritasium video; I wonder if Terran R will be bid for the next lunar lander contract.

[trimeta]

Idle thought while watching the Veritasium video; I wonder if Terran R will be bid for the next lunar lander contract.

Terran R is said to be close to the Falcon 9 in paylaod capacity. You think it could support a crew-rated lunar lander? It could certainly carry the various CLPS missions currently flying on Falcon 9, but those are separate.

[niwax]

At around 11:54 into that video we get a glimpse of Terran R's tank dome, with a scalloped design which would be entirely infeasible using traditional manufacturing. I'm not a rocket scientist and can't assess whether this is actually better, but this is one answer to the question "why would you 3D print tanks, they're not even doing anything fancy with hoops and stringers, so bending a single piece of metal is sufficient."

Of course, doing fancy things with domes (including Y-joints) don't explain why you wouldn't 3D print the domes exclusively but then use traditional approaches for the long portions, but maybe once you've got the 3D printer set up you might as well use it for the whole thing.

I'm not sure what they mean by "traditional manufacturing", because scalloped stiffened metal parts at the 1m²+ level are being stamped daily in car factories. Even the Starship top dome was made from stamped sections before they went to rolling and stretching. The four welds to assemble the thing can hardly be the deciding factor over printing.

[RedLineTrain]

Don't think stamping 16-foot diameter pieces as shown is normally done.  And if you want to stamp pieces and then weld together via friction stir welding, you might have to build quite the machine to do so.

[JEF_300]

Idle thought while watching the Veritasium video; I wonder if Terran R will be bid for the next lunar lander contract.

Terran R is said to be close to the Falcon 9 in paylaod capacity. You think it could support a crew-rated lunar lander? It could certainly carry the various CLPS missions currently flying on Falcon 9, but those are separate.

Starship requires refueling to get to the moon and land anyway. Once refueling is on the table, Ariane V, Atlas V, Vulcan, Falcon 9, etc. are all perfectly capable of doing manned lunar missions. However, as a, theoretically, rapidly and fully reusable vehicle, Terran R should be better qualified.

More to the point though, I was just suggesting a lander based closely on the Terran R upper stage. The exact mission architecture that might use could vary.

[ringsider]

Don't think stamping 16-feet diameter pieces as shown is normally done.  And if you want to stamp pieces and then weld together via friction stir welding, you might have to build quite the machine to do so.

The entire tube of an Ariane 5 stage is pressure formed from a massive flat aluminum billet in about 4-5 minutes. That is 5.4m (ca.18 ft) in diameter. They also mill the end dome segments from solid billet. I guess if they wanted to stamp a flowery pattern into the dome they could do it pretty easily.

[Robert Thompson]

At around 11:54 into that video we get a glimpse of Terran R's tank dome, with a scalloped design which would be entirely infeasible using traditional manufacturing. I'm not a rocket scientist and can't assess whether this is actually better, but this is one answer to the question "why would you 3D print tanks, they're not even doing anything fancy with hoops and stringers, so bending a single piece of metal is sufficient."

Of course, doing fancy things with domes (including Y-joints) don't explain why you wouldn't 3D print the domes exclusively but then use traditional approaches for the long portions, but maybe once you've got the 3D printer set up you might as well use it for the whole thing.

I would like to see the cross product of this innovation and the limitations of the X-33 LH2 tanks.