Affordable Space Travel

A new rocket is destined to redefine space travel, making it accessible to more people and nations. The breakthrough design is made possible by combining 3D printing with artificial intelligence and robotics to automate and simplify construction.

The engines and the rocket structure are built using the world’s largest 3D printer — called Stargate — with custom metal alloys to create sections as much as 36 feet tall. The bumpy texture is then machined to resemble regular metal. One advantage of this method is that the number of parts can be reduced by up to 1,000 times — from over 100,000 for a conventional rocket to 1,000 for a printed one. This not only reduces cost, but also cuts the time to construct a rocket from two years to about two months. In addition, rapid construction allows for more rapid testing and tweaking of design iterations. The engine (known as Aeon 1) has already completed more than 500 test runs.

But most importantly, when the Terran R rocket is ready for lift-off in 2024, it will be fully reusable for multiple low earth orbit (LEO) launches (rather than just portions of it as is the case with the SpaceX rocket). Ultimately, the company views 3D printing as a vital component for establishing colonies beyond earth and aims to someday print the first rocket on Mars.