World's first 3D-printed rocket Terran 1 set for debut launch

A 3D-printed rocket built by California-based startup Relativity Space was due for blastoff on its first mission to orbit on Wednesday in a key test of the US company's novel strategy for cutting manufacturing costs. The 35-metre-tall (115-foot) Terran 1 rocket, 85 percent of which was fabricated from a 3D printer, was set to lift off from a United States Space Force base launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 1 pm Eastern time (18:00 GMT) on Wednesday. "The launch that we're preparing for is an opportunity to demonstrate a whole bunch of things all at once," said Josh Brost, Relativity Space's senior vice president of revenue. He called the Terran 1 "by far the largest 3D-printed structure that's ever been assembled". The rocket – nicknamed GLHF for "Good Luck, Have Fun" – will not carry a commercial payload, as it is an inaugural flight, but will instead carry a failed 3D-printed rocket part from a previous attempt to build a craft.