Author Topic: Relativity Space: General Thread (Read 352950 times)

playadelmars · « **Reply #480 on:** 02/14/2022 06:26 pm »

Not sure about Peloton, but Amazon experience looks relevant for this role, and a former COO hire is some pretty big chops even if PTON been struggling it’s still a huge company.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=59420

Cheapchips · « **Reply #481 on:** 02/22/2022 01:12 pm »

Relativity are planning a rapid transition to a single Aeon-R on the Terran 1. The first three flights will still use 9 Aeon 1's.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/relativity-space-plans-upgrade-to-terran-1-rocket-soon-after-its-initial-launch/

Kryten · « **Reply #482 on:** 02/22/2022 01:15 pm »

Is there any accepted terminology for this? It seems Relativity are going to keep calling it just 'Terran-1', but that's a pretty drastic design change.

Robotbeat · « **Reply #483 on:** 02/22/2022 01:21 pm »

Quote from: Kryten on 02/22/2022 01:15 pm

Is there any accepted terminology for this? It seems Relativity are going to keep calling it just 'Terran-1', but that's a pretty drastic design change.

Terran-1 Mark 2.

FunBobby · « **Reply #484 on:** 02/22/2022 01:36 pm »

What a great way to prove out your new 150MT thrust engine with a few flights on your sub $10M rocket before risking 9 or them on your $100M rocket. I would think you get more confidence than is possible on just the test stand. Might be worth attempting parachute recovery(retrieval) not for the purpose of re-use but for the purpose of tearing down the Aeon R after-flight.

TrevorMonty · « **Reply #485 on:** 02/22/2022 03:41 pm »

Quote from: FunBobby on 02/22/2022 01:36 pm

What a great way to prove out your new 150MT thrust engine with a few flights on your sub $10M rocket before risking 9 or them on your $100M rocket. I would think you get more confidence than is possible on just the test stand. Might be worth attempting parachute recovery(retrieval) not for the purpose of re-use but for the purpose of tearing down the Aeon R after-flight.

The smaller LV will retire a lot of risk with Terran R. Both RL and SpaceX are carrying flight proven systems plus lessons learnt from their smaller LVs to larger ones.

Failure in first few launches is almost a given for their first LV, best they learn these lessons on small LV.

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #486 on:** 03/08/2022 01:33 am »

Quote from: gongora on 10/14/2021 01:25 am

They're still aiming for Q1 (as of a week ago). They have a lot of stuff in work. Stage one engines well into qual testing, stage 2 engine ready to ship for qual testing, a second stage hotfire scheduled for later this year, first stage delivery to the pad near the end of the year.

Is Terran-1 anywhen close to its first launch?
We've got it listed for NET March on the USA launch schedule thread.

su27k · « **Reply #487 on:** 03/08/2022 02:12 am »

https://twitter.com/relativityspace/status/1500946636289105921

Quote

The shipping momentum continues! Check out some of our favorite 📸 of S2 leaving our factory in Long Beach. For more of the latest updates (including some exclusive content coming your way this week 😉) sign up for our newsletter #ThePrint: https://relativityspace.com/newsletter #GLHF

zubenelgenubi · « **Reply #488 on:** 03/08/2022 04:24 am »

Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 03/08/2022 01:33 am

Is Terran-1 anywhen close to its first launch?
We've got it listed for NET March on the USA launch schedule thread.

Quote from: Salo on 03/08/2022 02:24 am

https://www.teslarati.com/relativity-space-reveals-plans-to-rapidly-upgrade-3d-printed-terran-1-rocket/
[dated February 24]
Quote
The first launch of Terran 1 is anticipated to take place by the end of 2022, with [Relativity co-founder and CEO Tim] Ellis stating that Relativity is “definitely launching this year.” Terran 1’s first launch won’t carry payloads, indicating its experimental nature, but it will be serving as the startup’s first orbital launch attempt.

Quote from: Tim Ellis

We are definitely launching this year. Yeah, we are definitely launching this year. I have no doubt about that one at this point, barring an act of nature or something going seriously wrong in stage testing.

https://mobile.twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1496119688555900934

Hug · « **Reply #489 on:** 03/08/2022 11:44 am »

It's currently summer. Spring was baselining shipping of stages by end of the 2021, which has been delayed obviously. Second stage will go to Stennis for hotfiring, but first stage will head straight to Cape to do static there. If they manage to do both by end of April; Alpha is taking 2-3 months from statics to launch, but this is first time launch so add 1 month (and hope for no FTS issues); August.

Daniels30 · « **Reply #490 on:** 03/09/2022 08:28 pm »

The second stage that shipped the other day is already on the test stand. Looks like Relativity want to get it fired up soon:

New look at their new 1m+ sqf HQ:

FunBobby · « **Reply #491 on:** 03/09/2022 08:33 pm »

Quote from: su27k on 03/08/2022 02:12 am

https://twitter.com/relativityspace/status/1500946636289105921

Quote
The shipping momentum continues! Check out some of our favorite 📸 of S2 leaving our factory in Long Beach. For more of the latest updates (including some exclusive content coming your way this week 😉) sign up for our newsletter #ThePrint: https://relativityspace.com/newsletter #GLHF

Who are all those people posing proudly in front of a rocket upper stage? I thought these things were built with zero human labor.

trimeta · « **Reply #492 on:** 03/09/2022 08:39 pm »

Quote from: FunBobby on 03/09/2022 08:33 pm

Quote from: su27k on 03/08/2022 02:12 am
https://twitter.com/relativityspace/status/1500946636289105921

Quote
The shipping momentum continues! Check out some of our favorite 📸 of S2 leaving our factory in Long Beach. For more of the latest updates (including some exclusive content coming your way this week 😉) sign up for our newsletter #ThePrint: https://relativityspace.com/newsletter #GLHF

Who are all those people posing proudly in front of a rocket upper stage? I thought these things were built with zero human labor.

This thread's title is an artifact of some of their earlier marketing material, I don't think they've actually used that line in years. It would make total sense to me for it to be removed from this thread as well.

jstrotha0975 · « **Reply #493 on:** 03/10/2022 05:07 pm »

Orbital rockets with minimum human labor.

PM3 · « **Reply #494 on:** 03/10/2022 05:58 pm »

Quote from: jstrotha0975 on 03/10/2022 05:07 pm

Orbital rockets with minimum human labor.

Maximum. Relativity has > 700 employees (source). Rocket Lab and Astra made it to orbit with about half of that headcount. And I bet that ABL builds rockets for less than Relativity (indicated by their lower launch price).

Relativity is the most labour-intensive and cash-burning rocket startup company ever, and the most overrated IMHO.

trimeta · « **Reply #495 on:** 03/10/2022 06:42 pm »

Quote from: PM3 on 03/10/2022 05:58 pm

Quote from: jstrotha0975 on 03/10/2022 05:07 pm
Orbital rockets with minimum human labor.

Maximum. Relativity has > 700 employees (source). Rocket Lab and Astra made it to orbit with about half of that headcount. And I bet that ABL builds rockets for less than Relativity (indicated by their lower launch price).

Relativity is the most labour-intensive and cash-burning rocket startup company ever, and the most overrated IMHO.

My latest numbers for the "big six" US-based small-launch companies:

Rocket Lab: >1,100, although that includes 425 from SolAero and who knows how many from their other recent acquisitions (which all happened long after reaching orbit)
Virgin Orbit: 575
Astra: 100 (that source is pretty out of date, would welcome an update)
Firefly: >400 (source is the tweet at the bottom of this list)
ABL: >100
Relativity: >700

https://twitter.com/Firefly_Space/status/1421222398918107137

So yeah, discounting the SolAero employees at Rocket Lab, Relativity has more employees than anyone else.

Although side-note, I think ABL and Relativity are both promising launch for $12M, so the same price. But ABL's RS1 has greater payload mass, while Relativity's Terran 1 has greater payload volume.

TrevorMonty · « **Reply #496 on:** 03/10/2022 11:19 pm »

There aren't that many of RL employees involved with Electron launches. Majority would space systems especially since new acquisitions and Neutron development.

While Relativity headcount is high and aren't making any money at present. They do have large cash reserves enough to see both Terran 1 and Terran R fly.

Astra on the other hand are burning through their reserves at considerable rate.

edzieba · « **Reply #497 on:** 03/11/2022 11:47 pm »

Relativity are a freeform metal additive manufacturing company (whole stack, from alloy design to in-process NDI hardware and software) that is producing rockets as a systems demo and to tap into the copious venture capital around space systems.

jongoff · « **Reply #498 on:** 03/17/2022 08:02 pm »

Quote from: edzieba on 03/11/2022 11:47 pm

Relativity are a freeform metal additive manufacturing company (whole stack, from alloy design to in-process NDI hardware and software) that is producing rockets as a systems demo and to tap into the copious venture capital around space systems.

Though up until the last 2-3 years there wasn't copious VC investment in space systems... For most of the 2010s, the only ones raising real VC money for space ventures were having to obfuscate that they were space companies "oh we're actually big data companies that just happen to build our own satellites to collect the data..."

~Jon

Robotbeat · « **Reply #499 on:** 03/17/2022 08:59 pm »

Quote from: edzieba on 03/11/2022 11:47 pm

Relativity are a freeform metal additive manufacturing company (whole stack, from alloy design to in-process NDI hardware and software) that is producing rockets as a systems demo and to tap into the copious venture capital around space systems.

That’s the pitch, but Terran-R is a substantial, multi-billion-dollar project. Fully reusable rocket in the HLV class. No fully reusable rocket has ever been made before. It’s no mere side project. It could launch more than the rest of the non-Starship launch industry combined.

And the launch industry is larger than metal additive manufacturing industry.