Relativity Space awarded $ 650 million to design reusable 3D rocket

Last March, we reported to you that the aerospace industry was being shaken by a new start-up, Relativity Space. As a reminder, Relativity Space is an American aerospace company founded in 2015 by talented engineers Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone. The first having taken its first steps at Blue Origin and the second, at SpaceX. Together, they want to revolutionize the aerospace industry by exploring 3D printing. And the least we can say is that their project attracts investors!

Relativity Space’s first launcher to be launched at the end of the year

In fact, in 2015, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, believed in the two engineers’ project and signed them a check for $ 500,000. Soon after, Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone manage to raise $ 10 million. Just recently, they received $ 500 million to boost their project to 3D print rockets.

If a year and a half ago, the start-up had only 100 employees, it now has around 400 and still plans to hire several hundred by the end of this year. David Giger, a former SpaceX employee, also joined the company to build the Terran-1 rocket. A 7-meter-high launcher expected to be launched later this year from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Terran-R will be fully reusable

Recently, Spacenews reported that Relativity Space has raised $ 650 million in a new round of funding. This fund comes from investors BlackRock, Centricus, Coatue, Soroban Capital and other investors, to support the development of a new 3D printed rocket, the Terran-R, which will be larger than the Terran-1.

The Terran-R will be fully reusable and will be able to carry more than 20 tonnes of payloads in low earth orbit. Its launch is scheduled for 2024.

Currently, Relativity Space has an estimated market value of $ 4.2 billion. A threat to SpaceX? Not at the moment since the leader of the aerospace industry currently weighs $ 44 billion.