Relativity Space, a 3D printed rocket startup, has secured $650 million (R8,8 billion) in funding to scale its Terran R, its fully reusable, entirely 3D-printed launch vehicle.
Investment round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, with new investors including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Centricus, Coatue, and Soroban Capital, in addition to participation from existing investors Baillie Gifford, K5 Global, Tiger Global, Tribe Capital, XN, Brad Buss, Mark Cuban, Jared Leto, and Spencer Rascoff
The Terran R will be entirely reusable and capable of launching 20,000kg to low Earth orbit, starting in 2024 at the company’s launch site in Cape Canaveral.
Terran R also represents a large leap towards Relativity’s mission to build humanity’s multi-planetary future, eventually offering customers a point-to-point space freighter capable of missions between Earth, Moon and Mars.
“From our founding days in Y Combinator just five years ago, we planned on 3D printing Terran 1 and then Terran R – a 20X larger fully reusable rocket – on our Factory of the Future platform,” said Tim Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Relativity.
“Today we are one step closer to this goal. Together with our first rocket Terran 1, our second product, Terran R, will continue to take advantage of Relativity’s disruptive approach to 3D printing – reduced part count, improved speed of innovation, flexibility, and reliability – to bring to market the next generation of launch vehicles.
“Relativity was founded with the mission to 3D print entire rockets and build humanity’s industrial base on Mars. We were inspired to make this vision a reality, and believe there needs to be dozens to hundreds of companies working to build humanity’s multiplanetary future on Mars.
“Scalable, autonomous 3D printing is inevitably required to thrive on Mars, and Terran R is the second product step in a long-term journey Relativity is planning ahead.”
