Relativity space, the first company to 3D print an entire rocket and build the world’s largest metal 3D printers, closed a $ 650 million round of Series E equity.

The tour was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC with the participation of investors including Baillie Gifford, funds and accounts managed by Black rock, Centricus, Coat, Global K5, Capital of Sorobans, Global Tiger, Capital of the tribe, XN, Brad buss, Marc Cuban, Jared leto, and Spencer rascoff, among others. Following the announcement of its fully reusable and fully 3D printed rocket, Terran R, the company’s latest funding round enables the scaling up of the Terran R program and long-term infrastructure development.

As a 216-foot-high two-stage rocket with a 16-foot diameter and 5-meter payload shroud, Terran R will be fully reusable and capable of launching 20,000 kg to LEO, starting in 2024 at the site. company launch in Cape Canaveral. Created in Relativity Factory of the future, by the same printers and the same team as Terran 1, Terran R has unique aeronautical characteristics, complex structures and has the capacity to launch 20 times more payload than Terran 1.

Terran R will be equipped with seven, 3D printed, Aeon R rocket engines capable of 302,000 lbs of thrust each, while its upper stage houses a Aeon 1 empty engine. Terran R also represents a big step towards Relativity’s mission to build the multiplanetary future of humanity, ultimately providing customers with a point-to-point space freighter capable of performing missions between Earth, Moon and Mars.

Over the past six months, the company has continued to achieve business and technical milestones, including signing its first anchor customer for Terran R, the company’s fully reusable, fully 3D printed launcher. Relativity has now completed printing over 85% of the first Terran 1 orbital rocket, including its first and second stages, keeping momentum for its launch later this year from Cape Canaveral.

Terran 1 continues to gain commercial ground, including the recently announced customer agreement with TriSept, its first launch contract with the US Department of Defense, and one Venture 2 Class Launch Services Demonstration (VCLS Demo 2) contract with Nasa. Over the past year, despite the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy, Relativity has ramped up its hiring pace, which now has more than 400 employees and plans to hire an additional 200 members this year.

Relativity’s streamlined supply chain allows the company to build its rockets, including the world’s first fully 3D printed Terran 1 rocket and its fully reusable, fully 3D printed rocket, Terran R, with 100 times less parts in less than 60 days. By merging 3D printing, artificial intelligence, proprietary software and autonomous robotics, Relativity has created a whole new value chain for aerospace, starting with orbital launch.

With 3D printing production, Relativity has created a new technology stack for the aerospace industry that utilizes software-driven manufacturing, exotic materials and unique design geometries that are not possible in traditional manufacturing, driving innovation and an unprecedented disruption in the industry. With continued high demand for Terran 1, Relativity has secured nine launch contracts from private and government customers, and with satellite constellations accounting for the bulk of the growing market, Terran R is helping the company serve its growing pipeline of commercial interest.

“Since our founding at Y Combinator just five years ago, we had planned to 3D print Terran 1 and then Terran R – a fully reusable rocket 20 times the size – on our Factory of the Future platform.,” mentionned Tim ellis, CEO and co-founder of Relativity. “Today we are one step closer to this goal. With our first Terran 1 rocket, our second product, Terran R, will continue to leverage Relativity’s disruptive approach to 3D printing – reduced number of parts, speed of innovation, improved flexibility and reliability – to deliver market the next generation of launch vehicles. Relativity was founded with a 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 must be dozens, if not hundreds of companies working to build humanity’s multiplanetary future on Mars. Scalable, stand-alone 3D printing is inevitably necessary to thrive on Mars, and Terran R is the product’s second step in a long-term journey that Relativity is planning in advance.. “