Terran 1 lifted off from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on its inaugural test flight at 11:25 p.m. EDT Wednesday, March 22 (0325 UTC Thursday, March 23).
The two-stage rocket, called the Terran 1, is the first orbital-class launcher primarily manufactured with 3D printing, and the first U.S.-made launch vehicle of its size to use methane as a fuel. The initial phase of the Terran 1’s inaugural flight Wednesday night appeared to go according to plan, with no problems reported until the second stage was supposed to ignite nearly three minutes after liftoff.
The upper stage’s Aeon engine was supposed to ignite for a five-minute burn to accelerate the rocket to orbital velocity, around 17,000 mph. But a camera on the second stage showed intermittent flames from the engine, which did not appear to power up to full thrust. The rocket reached a top speed of about 4,600 mph (7,400 kilometers per hour) then started slowing down as it briefly soared into space, according to a velocity reading on Relativity’s live webcast of the test flight. Relativity’s launch director, Clay Walker, confirmed there was an anomaly on the second stage in an announcement around five minutes into the mission.
There were no satellites on the Terran 1 rocket’s first test flight. Debris from the rocket likely fell into the Atlantic Ocean around 400 miles east of Cape Canaveral.
