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Relativity Space’s first 3D-printed rocket arrives at launch pad

A 3D-printed rocket booster awaits its first launch opportunity. (Relativity Space - John Kraus)

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Relativity Space has shipped both stages of its first 3D-printed Terran-1 rocket to a launch pad it recently finished constructing at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), leaving the startup just a few steps away from its first orbital launch attempt.

As Relativity CEO Tim Ellis himself noted, the company is about two years behind its initial goal of a 2020 launch debut, but it’s far from alone in that regard. Virtually all of its most direct competitors are in similar boats. Out of sheer coincidence, startups ABL Space and Firefly Space are working towards orbital launch attempts of their similarly sized RS1 and Alpha rockets – ABL for the first time and Firefly for the second time – as early as summer 2022. Now, so is Relativity.

Almost simultaneously, all three companies have announced that both stages of their Terran-1, RS1, and Alpha rockets have arrived at their respective launch sites in Florida, Alaska, and California. Firefly, who has already successfully static fired Alpha’s first and second stages, is undoubtedly in the lead, but ABL Space and Relativity are neck and neck for second.

Both of the latter startups have successfully qualified the smaller, less powerful upper stages of their RS1 and Terran-1 rockets. Both intend to conduct final booster qualification testing – including the first all-engine, full-power static fires – at their launch sites. ABL has a bit of a leg up over Relativity, as it delivered its RS1 booster to its Kodiak, Alaska launch pad months ago. Still, Relativity appears to be on a roll and delivered both stages of its unique 3D-printed Terran-1 rocket to its Cape Canaveral launch site just a few weeks apart in May and June 2022. ABL Space also suffered a major failure during its first attempted upper stage qualification, though the company rapidly recovered. At least publicly, Relativity has experienced no major stage failures while developing Terran-1.

Firefly has finished qualifying the first and second stages of its second Alpha rocket.
ABL Space has finished qualifying its first flightworthy RS1 upper stage and is closing in on its first attempted booster static fire.
Relativity has also qualified its first Terran-1 upper stage and is preparing to static fire the rocket’s booster.

Alpha, RS1, and Terran-1 are all designed to launch roughly 1.2-1.35 tons (2600-3000 lb) to low Earth orbit. All three are roughly the same size and designed to be expended after every launch. Terran-1 and RS1 are designed to launch up to 1.25 and 1.35 tons for $12 million, while Alpha is a bit more expensive at $15 million for 1.17 tons. RS1 is a largely traditional welded-aluminum rocket not unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 1, but with nine smaller booster engines instead of Falcon 1’s one. Alpha is almost entirely built out of carbon fiber composites and is powered by four slightly larger main engines.

Terran-1 has nine 3D-printed booster engines and is also made mostly of aluminum. However, Relativity’s claim to fame is 3D printing, and it says that even its very first Terran-1 rocket is 85% 3D-printed by mass and is the largest single 3D-printed object ever built. Terran-1 reportedly weighs around 9.3 tons (20,500 lb) empty.

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If Terran-1’s booster qualification testing goes as smoothly as it did for the rocket’s upper stage, Relativity could be ready for its first orbital launch attempt as early as summer (Q3) 2022, just in time to join Firefly (July) and ABL (August). Relativity Space’s ultimate goal? 3D-print similar rockets on Mars.

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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Tesla called ‘biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen’ by Yale associate dean

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is being called “the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen” by Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean Jeff Sonnenfeld, who made the comments in a recent interview with CNBC.

Sonnenfeld’s comments echo those of many of the company’s skeptics, who argue that its price-to-earnings ratio is far too high when compared to other companies also in the tech industry. Tesla is often compared to companies like Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft when these types of discussions come up.

Fundamentally, yes, Tesla does trade at a P/E level that is significantly above that of any comparable company.

However, it is worth mentioning that Tesla is not traded like a typical company, either.

Here’s what Sonnenfeld said regarding Tesla:

“This is the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen. Even at its peak, Amazon was nowhere near this level. The PE on this, well above 200, is just crazy. When you’ve got stocks like Nvidia, the price-earnings ratio is around 25 or 30, and Apple is maybe 35 or 36, Microsoft around the same. I mean, this is way out of line to be at a 220 PE. It’s crazy, and they’ve, I think, put a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Many analysts have admitted in the past that they believe Tesla is an untraditional stock in the sense that many analysts trade it based on narrative and not fundamentals. Ryan Brinkman of J.P. Morgan once said:

“Tesla shares continue to strike us as having become completely divorced from the fundamentals.”

Dan Nathan, another notorious skeptic of Tesla shares, recently turned bullish on the stock because of “technicals and sentiment.” He said just last week:

“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting.”

Nathan said Tesla shares show signs of strength moving forward, including holding its 200-day moving average and holding against current resistance levels.

Sonnenfeld’s synopsis of Tesla shares points out that there might be “a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

This could refer to different things: perhaps his recent $1 billion stock buy, which sent the stock skyrocketing, or the fact that many Tesla investors are fans and owners who do not buy and sell on numbers, but rather on news that Musk might report himself.

Tesla is trading around $423.76 at the time of publication, as of 3:25 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Tesla makes big change to Full Self-Driving doghouse that drivers will like

Now, it is changing the timeframe of which strikes will be removed, cutting it in half. The strikes will be removed every 3.5 days, as long as no strikes are received during the time period.

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tesla cabin facing camera
Tesla's Cabin-facing camera is used to monitor driver attentiveness. (Credit: Andy Slye/YouTube)

Tesla is making a big change to its Full Self-Driving doghouse that drivers will like.

The doghouse is a hypothetical term used to describe the penalty period that Tesla applies to drivers who receive too many infractions related to distracted driving.

Previously, Tesla implemented a seven-day ban on the use of Full Self-Driving for those who received five strikes in a vehicle equipped with a cabin camera and three strikes for those without a cabin camera.

It also forgave one strike per week of Full Self-Driving use, provided the driver did not receive any additional strikes during the seven-day period.

Now, it is changing the timeframe of which strikes will be removed, cutting it in half. The strikes will be removed every 3.5 days, as long as no strikes are received during the time period.

The change was found by Not a Tesla App, which noticed the adjustment in the Owner’s Manual for the 2025.32 Software Update.

The system undoubtedly helps improve safety as it helps keep drivers honest. However, there are definitely workarounds, which people are using and promoting for monetary gain, and you can find them on basically any online marketplace, including TikTok shop and Amazon:

People are marketing the product as an FSD cheat device, which the cabin-facing camera will not be able to detect, allowing you to watch something on a phone or look through the windshield at the road.

The safeguards implemented by Tesla are designed to protect drivers from distractions and also protect the company itself from liability. People are still using Full Self-Driving as if it were a fully autonomous product, and it is not.

Tesla even says that the driver must pay attention and be ready to take over in any scenario:

“Yes. Autopilot is a driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. It does not turn a Tesla into a fully autonomous vehicle.

Before enabling Autopilot, you must agree to “keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times” and to always “maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.” Once engaged, Autopilot will also deliver an escalating series of visual and audio warnings, reminding you to place your hands on the wheel if insufficient torque is applied or your vehicle otherwise detects you may not be attentive enough to the road ahead. If you repeatedly ignore these warnings, you will be locked out from using Autopilot during that trip.

You can override any of Autopilot’s features at any time by steering or applying the accelerator at any time.”

It is good that Tesla is rewarding those who learn from their mistakes with this shorter timeframe to lose the strikes. It won’t be needed forever, though, as eventually, the company will solve autonomy. The question is: when?

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Elon Musk teases the capabilities of the Tesla Roadster once again

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Elon Musk has once again teased the capabilities of the Tesla Roadster, fueling the anticipation that many have for the vehicle, despite it still having no public production or delivery date.

The Roadster is among the most anticipated vehicles in the automotive sector currently, and as Tesla has teased its capabilities, from a lightning-fast 1.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration to potential hovering with cold-gas thrusters, people are eager to see it.

Although the design seemed to be finalized, there was still more work to be done. Earlier this year, as Tesla was showcasing some of the Roadster’s capabilities to Musk, he stated that it was capable of even more.

This pushed back its production date even further, much to the chagrin of those who have been waiting years for it.

Musk continues to tease us all, and as we sit here waiting hopelessly for it to be revealed, he said today that it is “something special beyond a car.”

Musk’s words were in response to a video posted by Tesla China, showing the Roadster in a new promotional video created by a fan.

The Roadster was planned to be released in 2020, but here we are in 2025, and there is still no sign of the vehicle entering production. However, Tesla did say earlier this year that it would host a demo event for the Roadster, where the company would showcase its capabilities.

Lars Moravy said earlier this year:

“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind-blowing; We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.”

Tesla exec gives big update on Roadster, confirming recent rumor

The delays have been attributed to “radically increased design goals” for the vehicle, which have, without a doubt, improved its capabilities, but at the same time, we just want to know if it’s ever going to come.

Tesla can always make it “better,” but at what point do you say, “Okay, it’s time to show this thing off.” They could always build another, even more capable supercar in the next ten years.

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