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Relativity Space’s first 3D-printed rocket goes vertical for launch debut

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3 years ago

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Relativity Space’s first 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket has rolled out to the startup’s Florida pad and been raised vertical ahead of its launch debut.

Founded in 2015, the private Los Angeles-based spaceflight company shipped its first complete rocket prototype to Florida in June 2022. Prior to that major milestone, Relativity qualified Terran 1’s orbital second stage at leased facilities located at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in southwest Mississippi, and – alongside a nosecone and interstage – arrived at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) more or less ready to fly.

The last six months have been almost exclusively dedicated to testing Terran 1’s larger and more powerful first stage (booster) as thoroughly as possible. Instead of building a dedicated booster test stand in Mississippi, Relativity chose to modify Terran 1’s lone LC-16 launch pad for the crucial task. Ultimately, the startup was able to complete a large amount of booster testing on the ground, significantly increasing the odds that Terran 1 will perform as expected when it lifts off for the first time.

Beginning with cryogenic proofing, propellant loading, ‘spin starts,’ and several shorter static fire tests, Relativity’s first Terran 1 booster test campaign culminated with two long-duration static fires in September 2022. The final 57 and 82-second static fires weren’t quite the “full mission duration” tests Relativity had hoped for, but the company concluded that the data gathered was enough to clear the booster for flight.

According to Ellis, one of the most important insights gained from those tests was into Terran 1’s uncharacteristically complex autogenous pressurization system – unprecedented for such a small rocket. Generally speaking, orbital-class rockets store helium gas in small ultra-high-pressure tanks (COPVs) and use helium to pressurize their propellant tanks as they are drained of propellant. Autogenous pressurization refers to an alternative in which a portion of a rocket’s liquid oxidizer and fuel are turned into hot gas and injected back into their respective tanks to pressurize them.

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Helium is extremely expensive and an unrenewable resource. In theory, autogenous pressurization – at the cost of being significantly more complex and finicky – can also reduce the amount of dry mass reserved for tank pressurization. While Terran 1 wasn’t able to complete a full-duration static fire, the tests it did complete showed Relativity that its autogenous pressurization systems are unlikely to be a problem in flight, mostly eliminating a major source of uncertainty.

Following the final 82 or 88-second static fire, Relativity returned Terran 1’s booster to LC-16’s hangar and shifted its focus to fully assembling the two-stage rocket and finishing the launch pad. In early December, the company announced that it had fully assembled the first Terran 1. Days later, the rocket was installed on the pad’s “Transporter Erector.” The T/E responsible for transporting the rocket and raising it vertical, but it also needs to connect the rocket to ground systems (propellant, power, comms, etc.) and hold it down before liftoff.

On or around December 6th, Terran 1 rolled out to the pad and was raised vertical soon after. According to Ellis, all that stands between Terran 1 and its first launch is a short integrated static fire test and a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It’s impossible to say how long the FAA will take, but it’s likely that Relativity will be technically ready to launch just a handful of weeks from now.

Beyond building a relativity impressive rocket, Relativity’s claim to fame is large-scale 3D printing. The startup says that the first Terran 1 rocket – booster, upper stage, fairing, engines, and all – is 85% 3D-printed by mass and the largest single 3D-printed object ever built. Terran 1 reportedly weighs around 9.3 tons (20,500 lb) empty; will measure around 33 meters (110 ft) tall and 2.3 meters (7.5 ft) wide; and will produce around 90 tons (~200,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff. The rocket is designed to launch 1.25 tons (~2750 lb) to low Earth orbit for $12 million

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk teases Optimus job that’s straight out of Robocop

“If somebody’s committed a crime, we might be able to provide a more humane form of containment of future crime. You now get a free Optimus, and it’s just going to follow you around and stop you from doing crime.”

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8 hours ago

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November 11, 2025

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Credit: @heydave7/X

Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased a potential job for the company’s Optimus robot last week that is straight out of the movie “Robocop.”

“Robocop” aimed to show a futuristic look at law enforcement in a Sci-fi thriller that was among the first iterations of how robots could be used for police work.

The 1987 film showcased an injured cop turning into an armed cyborg, and although Tesla’s Optimus won’t be a human-robot hybrid, Musk’s idea for the humanoid project is similar.

Musk said last week at the Annual Shareholder Meeting, where shareholders voted to approve his $1 trillion compensation plan, that Optimus could be the future of law enforcement, nearly revolutionizing the way criminals are prosecuted.

He hinted that Optimus could actually be used as a chaperone of sorts, arguing that it was a “more humane form of containment of future crime.” Musk said:

“If somebody’s committed a crime, we might be able to provide a more humane form of containment of future crime. You now get a free Optimus, and it’s just going to follow you around and stop you from doing crime. Other than that, you get to do anything; it’s just going to stop you from committing crime. That’s really it. You don’t have to put people in prisons and stuff. It’s pretty wild to think of all the possibilities, but I think it’s clearly the future.”

Musk’s overall idea for Optimus is to change the way people are able to exist, from those law-abiding citizens to others who have their run-ins with the law. Instead, the Tesla CEO believes there could be a different way to handle everything, including punishment.

It was not the only thing that Musk indicated could be changed significantly by the presence of humanoid robots, as he also said a universal basic income could be established with the help of products like Optimus.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk teases huge merger: ‘Trending towards convergence’

“My companies are, surprisingly in some ways, trending towards convergence.”

Published

10 hours ago

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November 11, 2025

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Elon Musk recently amplified the thoughts of Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, who had insight into the “Muskonomy” of his potentially interconnected ventures, something that was proposed at the recent Tesla Shareholder Meeting with xAI.

Musk’s words indicate a potential strategic fusion that could serve as a blueprint for future innovation–but it is dependent on a conglomeration between the many entities the CEO serves.

As Tesla grapples with scaling Optimus and preparing for its imminent production and the development of the Full Self-Driving suite, xAI’s computational edge could provide leverage for the millions of miles of data the company accumulates, providing a more stable and accurate development strategy for the autonomous and AI efforts it has put its chips all in on.

After Tesla Shareholders voted to deny Tesla and xAI’s potential financial partnership through an investment, Jonas said it was an issue that would have to be revisited due to its importance.

xAI has the opportunity to provide an incredible strategic and financial bolstering to Tesla, especially with how important a role data plays in the development of the company’s biggest products.

Jonas wrote in a note to investors:

“They’re gonna have to revisit this. We don’t think investors understand just how important xAI is to Tesla and the broader Muskonomy. Tesla’s relationship with xAI (financially and strategically) is deterministic to the long-term success of Tesla due in part to the natural synergies of data, software, hardware, and manufacturing in recursive loops. The values (and value systems) of both Tesla and xAI are endowed by the values of their shared creator. We believe this co-determination becomes more obvious in the next phases of physical AI/ autonomy for Tesla in the year ahead.”

Musk said, in response to Jonas’ note, that his companies are “surprisingly in some ways, trending toward convergence.”

Mergers and shared ecosystems between companies are not new moves out of Musk’s playbook, as it has been done in the past, especially with Tesla acquiring other entities.

It did it with SolarCity in 2016 and with Maxwell Technologies in 2019. Investments between Musk companies have occurred before, too, as SpaceX dumped $2 billion into xAI last July.

He’s also said on several occasions that he could eventually bring everything together into some sort of single entity. In July 2024, he said:

“I’m not opposed to the idea in principle, but I’m not sure there is a pragmatic or legal way to merge them. There is also value in equity incentives of people at the companies being tied to that company’s accomplishments.”

This point is especially relevant now with Musk’s recently approved compensation package.

He also said in June, during an interview with CNBC , that “It’s not out of the question” for xAI to merge with Tesla, but it would have to be approved by shareholders. Just a few days later, he said he would not support xAI merging with Tesla; however, he put it in investors’ hands.

It’s more than just a deal; it’s symbiotic. Musk being at the helm of various companies, all intertwined with one another, helps foster recursive innovation. Despite these advantages, there are still a handful of things to consider, especially from a regulatory perspective.

However, it is not competition; it’s convergence. In Musk’s universe, especially from a business sense, mergers are not endpoints, but instead launchpads for ambitions that aim to take each company from Earth to lands beyond our atmosphere.

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Elon Musk

Tesla makes Elon Musk’s new compensation package official

This is an important thing to note, as much of the media coverage regarding Musk’s pay package seems to indicate that the company and the shareholders are simply giving the CEO the money. He has to come through on each of these tranches to unlock the $1 trillion.

Published

12 hours ago

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November 11, 2025

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Credit: @JoeTegtmeyer/X

Tesla has made CEO Elon Musk’s new compensation package official, as it filed a Form 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.

The package officially gives Musk the opportunity to acquire over 423 million shares of Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA), dependent on his ability to achieve twelve performance-based tranches that will bring growth to the company and its shareholders.

Tesla (TSLA) shareholders officially approve Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award

Musk’s new compensation package was approved by investors last Thursday at the company’s Annual Shareholder Meeting, as over 75 percent of voters supported the CEO’s new plan, which could be valued at over $1 trillion if he is able to come through on all twelve tranches.

The twelve tranches include growth goals related to vehicle deliveries, the Optimus humanoid robot project, and Tesla’s valuation. If Musk is able to achieve each tranche, he would help Tesla achieve an over $8 trillion market cap.

The 12 tranches include:

  1. $2 trillion market cap + Deliver 20 million Tesla vehicles cumulatively
  2. $2.5 trillion market cap + Reach 10 million active Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscriptions
  3. $3 trillion market cap + Deliver 1 million Optimus humanoid robots
  4. $3.5 trillion market cap + Operate 1 million Robotaxis commercially
  5. $4 trillion market cap + Hit $50 billion in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, etc.)
  6. $4.5 trillion market cap + Hit $80 billion in adjusted EBITDA
  7. $5 trillion market cap + Hit $130 billion in adjusted EBITDA
  8. $5.5 trillion market cap + Hit $210 billion in adjusted EBITDA
  9. $6 trillion market cap + Hit $300 billion in adjusted EBITDA
  10. $6.5 trillion market cap + Hit $400 billion in adjusted EBITDA
  11. $7.5 trillion market cap + Hit $400 billion in adjusted EBITDA for four straight quarters in a row
  12. $8.5 trillion market cap + Hit $400 billion in adjusted EBITDA for four straight quarters in a row

Achieving the twelve levels of the new compensation package would also give Musk what he’s really after: a larger ownership share in Tesla, which would help him achieve more control, something he feels is necessary for the rollout of the Optimus robot “army.”

Musk does not earn a dime if he does not achieve any of the tranches above.

This is an important thing to note, as much of the media coverage regarding Musk’s pay package seems to indicate that the company and the shareholders are simply giving the CEO the money. He has to come through on each of these tranches to unlock the $1 trillion.

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