CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (WFLA) — Aerospace company Relativity Space attempted to launch the world’s first 3D-printed rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday. The launch was scrubbed with 45 seconds left on the clock.
The mission is called “GLHF”, a common acronym in online gaming that stands for “Good Luck, Have Fun.” It’s the debut of the Terran 1 rocket, which stands at 110 feet tall and 7.5 feet wide, according to Relativity Space.
Like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, Terran 1 is tended to be reusable. Relativity Space said their team can build a rocket from raw materials in just 60 days. The two-stage rocket can carry 1,250 kilograms into low-earth orbit, Relativity Space said, but the first launch will not include customer cargo.
GLHF is the first Terran 1 model and falls just short of the company’s goal of having a rocket that is 95% 3D-printed by mass. And it’s not just the outside that was created this way – the rocket’s engines were also created by a 3D printer.
“Should the first launch of Terran 1 reach orbit, Relativity would be the first privately-held,
venture-backed space company to have successfully done so on its first launch,” the company said.
Relativity set a new launch window for 1:00 a.m. to 3:15 a.m. on Friday, March 17. The rocket is expected to reach orbit eight minutes after liftoff.