WASHINGTON Relativity Space's 3 D-printed rocket lifted off for the first time on Wednesday, passing a key milestone to demonstrate the vehicle's in-flight strength before its second stage failed upon reaching space, a company live stream showed.
The California-based company's 110 foot tall Terran 1 rocket, which is 85 per cent made of 3 D-printed parts, lifted off from a launchpad on Thursday at 11: 25 p.m. EDT 0325 GMT on Thursday from a launchpad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Base.
The rocket reached peak aerodynamic stress at 1,242 miles per hour 1,999 km per hour, a key objective of the test mission, and it was about 80 seconds into the flight at an altitude of nearly 10 miles 16 km above the Atlantic Ocean.
The second stage engine appeared to briefly ignite, but failed to achieve thrust, ultimately failing to reach orbit.
Relativity Test Program Manager Arwa Tizani Kelly said that while we didn't make it all the way today, we gathered enough data to show that flying 3 d-printed rockets is possible.