It’s T-minus indeterminate for the world’s first 3D-printed rocket, whose operators postponed its launch after two failed attempts on Saturday.
The launch was originally scheduled for 4 p.m.
“The team was HARD today and we intend to do it during our next attempt. More to come on the new release date and window soon.” announced the company on Twitterin a thread that described the reasons for the abortions.
The first abortion arrived after the rocket engines had already fired, NBC News reported.
The company blamed the problem on a “corner case in staging automation.” A “corner case” in engineering is defined as a problem that occurs outside of normal operating parameters.
The second miscarriage occurred almost an hour later, with 45 seconds remaining. The company said it was an “automatic abort” because the fuel pressure was one pound per square inch (PSI) too low.
A launch attempt on Wednesday was also aborted due to a problem with propellant temperature.
While other rockets have had parts 3D printed, the Terran 1 booster is 85% 3D printed.
Relativity, the California-based aerospace company behind the project, says it would be a major milestone for the space technology industry.
3D-printed rockets would make space travel and other missions to the Moon and Mars much cheaper, the company claims. Their hope is to have future rockets that are 95% 3D printed and completely reusable.
Relativity Space, which was founded in 2015 and is based in Long Beach, California, says its 3D-printed rockets will offer a cheap way to launch smaller commercial satellites. The Teran 1 rocket is designed to carry up to 2,756 pounds into orbit.
