Update on upcoming first launch of Relativity’s Terran-1 rocket
Link here. Relativity has been doing longer and longer static fire tests on the launchpad, building to what could be the first every full duration static fire test of a rocket, on the launchpad.
A pair of spin-start tests on Terran 1’s first stage was completed on July 18 and 21 of this year. This was followed by hot fire tests, which not only started the nine Aeon 1 engines but allowed them to reach full thrust before shutdown. The first of these hot fire tests occurred on July 27 and lasted six seconds.
Once complete engine ignition was achieved, the next goal was to work toward firing the first stage for the full duration that will be needed during the flight from liftoff to stage separation. This type of “mission duty cycle” test is usually done on dedicated test stands rather than on the launch pad, but the test stand being used in place of the launch mount at SLC-16 enabled Relativity to streamline operations and complete long-duration firings on the launch pad. “To our knowledge, no other company has ever actually done a full flight duration test on the actual launch mount, or launch pad, at Cape Canaveral,” said Relativity CEO Tim Ellis, in an August interview with NASASpaceflight.
.
Once this test is completed, the rocket will be rolled back to its assembly building for check-outs, and if all is well will then be returned to the launchpad for its actual launch. No date has been set for that launch, but if it occurs before SpaceX’s Starship orbital launch, it will be the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
Link here. Relativity has been doing longer and longer static fire tests on the launchpad, building to what could be the first every full duration static fire test of a rocket, on the launchpad.
A pair of spin-start tests on Terran 1’s first stage was completed on July 18 and 21 of this year. This was followed by hot fire tests, which not only started the nine Aeon 1 engines but allowed them to reach full thrust before shutdown. The first of these hot fire tests occurred on July 27 and lasted six seconds.
Once complete engine ignition was achieved, the next goal was to work toward firing the first stage for the full duration that will be needed during the flight from liftoff to stage separation. This type of “mission duty cycle” test is usually done on dedicated test stands rather than on the launch pad, but the test stand being used in place of the launch mount at SLC-16 enabled Relativity to streamline operations and complete long-duration firings on the launch pad. “To our knowledge, no other company has ever actually done a full flight duration test on the actual launch mount, or launch pad, at Cape Canaveral,” said Relativity CEO Tim Ellis, in an August interview with NASASpaceflight.
.
Once this test is completed, the rocket will be rolled back to its assembly building for check-outs, and if all is well will then be returned to the launchpad for its actual launch. No date has been set for that launch, but if it occurs before SpaceX’s Starship orbital launch, it will be the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
In the last sentence, I believe you meant “before” rather than “because”.
Steve Rogers: Thank you. Fixed.