The archive · Space, Robots, Defence · Strategic decision · 2015–2026
Relativity Space bets 3D printing and reuse win; Terran R first vehicle nears launch
Relativity Space bet 3D printing makes rockets cheap to iterate; after Terran 1, it went all-in on reusable Terran R, now nearing first flight.
Relativity Space
What the business is
Relativity Space builds orbital rockets with giant metal 3D printers and automated factories in Long Beach; Terran R is its reusable medium-to-heavy launcher with 13 Aeon R engines.
Starting capital：Not disclosed: Eric Schmidt's March 2025 investment gave him a controlling stake in Relativity Space; earlier investors included Mark Cuban, BlackRock and Fidelity (TechCrunch).
How it started
Tim Ellis, an ex-Blue Origin engineer, and Jordan Noone, a former SpaceX propulsion engineer, founded Relativity Space in Long Beach in 2015, betting that large-scale metal 3D printing could build rockets with fewer parts and far less tooling, letting the company iterate like software. In March 2023 the mostly 3D-printed Terran 1 launched on its first attempt but failed to reach orbit; about a month later the company shelved it.
What happened
Relativity redirected everything to Terran R, a reusable vehicle sized between SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, capable of up to 23,500 kg to low Earth orbit when reused. An October 2023 Intelsat deal pushed its Terran R backlog to $1.8B across nine customers. Then the company hit trouble: TechCrunch reported cash shortages in 2024 and difficulty raising funding. In March 2025 former Google CEO Eric Schmidt took over as CEO with a controlling stake, with nearly $3B in launch contracts reported. By November 2025 the first Terran R flight vehicle was physically coming together: its second-stage tank passed acceptance testing, all circumferential welds on the first-stage tank were complete, Aeon R engines were in acceptance testing, and Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral was being outfitted with a LOX farm and water tower, with first flight targeted for late 2026.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Relativity Space, founded in Long Beach in 2015 by Tim Ellis (ex-Blue Origin) and Jordan Noone (ex-SpaceX), bet that software-defined factories and giant metal 3D printers could build rockets with fewer parts and less tooling, collapsing development time and cost. The March 2023 first flight of its mostly 3D-printed Terran 1 launched on the first attempt but failed to reach orbit, and about a month later the company shelved the vehicle.
The pivot redirected everything to Terran R, a reusable medium-to-heavy launcher sized against Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, with up to 23,500 kg to low Earth orbit when reused. An October 2023 Intelsat launch deal brought the Terran R backlog to $1.8B across nine customers, and TechCrunch coverage noted the bet: Terran R had not yet flown, with first launch planned no earlier than 2026.
Development then nearly ran out of runway: TechCrunch reported cash shortages in 2024 and difficulty raising funding. In March 2025 former Google CEO Eric Schmidt became CEO with a controlling stake, with nearly $3B in launch contracts reported. By November 2025, per New Space Economy's review of the company update, the first flight vehicle was in hardware: second-stage tank acceptance passed, first-stage tank fully welded, Aeon R engines in acceptance testing, and Launch Complex 16 being upgraded, keeping first flight targeted for late 2026.
What has to be true
- Terran 1 demonstrated that a mostly 3D-printed orbital rocket could launch on the first attempt, validating the manufacturing bet before the vehicle's market disappeared.
- The small-launch market collapsed toward rideshares while constellation operators wanted large reusable vehicles, so pivoting to Terran R aimed Relativity at the bigger demand pool.
- Shelving Terran 1 quickly conserved cash and engineering for Terran R instead of defending a shrinking niche.
- When the 2024 cash crunch threatened the runway, Eric Schmidt's controlling investment and CEO role bought time to reach first-flight hardware.
What can be applied
When the market moves under a product you love, kill it fast: Terran 1's printing know-how and factory carried over to Terran R, and the pivot is what kept the company alive.
Aftermath
As of 2025-12-11, Terran R's first flight vehicle was under construction and testing: second-stage tank acceptance passed, first-stage tank welding complete, 13 Aeon R engines moving through acceptance testing, and launch pad infrastructure being installed at LC-16, with maiden flight targeted for late 2026 under CEO Eric Schmidt. The company had reported nearly $3B in launch contracts. The cited sources report no wind-down.
Sources
- Relativity inks Terran R launch deal with Intelsat
- Eric Schmidt joins Relativity Space as CEO
- Relativity Space Status: November 2025
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card