Terran R

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Partially-reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle by Relativity Space

Country of originUnited States

Cost per launch$55 million^[1]

Terran R
Size

Function	Reusable orbital launcher
Manufacturer	Relativity Space
Country of origin	United States
Cost per launch	$55 million^[1]
Height	87 m (284 ft)
Diameter	5.4 m (17.7 ft)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	~33,500 kg (73,900 lb)

Launch history
Status	Planned
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral, LC-16
First flight	NET 2026

First stage
Powered by	13 × Aeon R
Maximum thrust	15,560 kN (3,497,000 lbf)
Propellant	LOX / CH₄
Second stage
Powered by	1 × Aeon Vac
Maximum thrust	1,440 kN (323,000 lbf)
Propellant	LOX / CH₄

[edit on Wikidata]

Terran R is a heavy-lift two-stage, partially reusable launch vehicle under development by Relativity Space. The vehicle is partially constructed with 3D printing technologies, like its predecessor, the small-lift Terran 1.^[2]^[3] The first flight is expected to be in 2026.^[4]

Original Proposed Version 2021

The Terran R was first publicly announced on 8 June 2021 after the company raised US$650 million in funding.^[5] Terran R was an evolution of the Terran 1, and at the time, it was to be 3D printed, fully reusable, including second stage and fairings.^[5] This planned version would be capable of putting 20,000 kg (44,000 lb) into low-Earth orbit (LEO) in recoverable configuration.^[6]

2023 Version

On 12 April 2023, after the first flight of the Terran 1, Relativity Space CEO Tim Ellis announced that the rocket was no longer going to be further developed and focus would move to Terran R.^[6] The new version of the rocket will have a maximum payload capacity of 23,500 kg (51,800 lb) to low earth orbit (LEO) with a fully reusable first stage, and 33,500 kg (73,900 lb) to LEO if fully expended.^[7]

The first stage will use 13 Aeon R engines, producing an estimated thrust of 14.9 MN (3,350,000 lbs) in total.^[2] The second stage will use an upgraded Aeon R Vac engine and will be expended, along with the fairings.^[7]

Ellis has compared the design of Terran R to SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle.^[8] With this design, Relativity is aiming to significantly exceed the Falcon 9 payload to LEO.^[7]

In July 2022, Relativity announced a partnership with Impulse Space to send a payload to Mars on the first Terran R flight,^[9] which is expected to occur in 2026.^[2]

In September 2024, Eric Berger reported the planned diameter of Terran R had changed from 5.5 m (216 in) to 5.4 m (210 in), matching the diameter of the Ariane 6 rocket.^[10]

References

↑ "Manhattan Venture Partners | Tomorrow's IPOs Today™".
1 2 3 Berger, Eric (12 April 2023). "Relativity Space is moving on from the Terran 1 rocket to something much bigger". Ars Technica. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
↑ "Relativity Space Shares Updated Go-to-Market Approach for Terran R, Taking Aim at Medium to Heavy Payload Category with Next-Generation Rocket". Relativity Space (Press release). 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
↑ "Terran R". Relativity Space. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
1 2 Foust, Jeff (8 June 2021). "Relativity raises $650 million round, announces Terran R rocket". SpaceNews. Alexandria, Virginia. ISSN 1046-6940. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
1 2 Foust, Jeff (12 April 2023). "Relativity shelves Terran 1 after one launch, redesigns Terran R". SpaceNews. Alexandria, Virginia. ISSN 1046-6940. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
1 2 3 Messier, Doug (28 April 2023). "Relativity Space Dumps Terran 1 in Favor of Larger Terran R". Parabolic Arc. Denver, Colorado. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
↑ Sheetz, Michael (February 25, 2021). "Relativity Space unveils a reusable, 3D-printed rocket to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
↑ Chang, Kenneth (19 July 2022). "Two Companies Aim to Beat SpaceX to Mars with 'Audacious' Landing". The New York Times.
↑ "Relativity Space has gone from printing money and rockets to doing what, exactly?". 4 September 2024.

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Pegasus XL SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I Eclipse Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted and production stopped ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S 2^† Chollima-1 Electron Eris^† Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H3 HANBIT-NANO^† Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 2 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 12A LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB Spectrum^† SSLV Starship Tianlong 2 3^† Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2E 3
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Cyclone-4M Deca Eclipse Epsilon S Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kinetica 2H 3 KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Pallas-1 Red Dwarf RFA One SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R VLM Vega E Zero Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIA H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 2-1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^† 2
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

Reusable launch systems and spacecraft

Launch systems

Active	Falcon 9 (first stage) Falcon Heavy (core stages) New Glenn (first stage) New Shepard* (fully reusable)
Retired	Space Shuttle (orbiter and boosters) Petrel* (booster) Skua* (booster)
In development	Amur (Soyuz-7) (first stage) Ariane Next CALLISTO CORONA Electron (first stage) Hyperbola-3 (first stage) Long March 6X (first stage) 8R (first stage) Miura 5 (first stage) Pallas-1 (first stage) RLV-TD Rocket Lab Neutron (first stage) Starship (SpaceX) Stoke Space Nova Terran R (first stage) Tianlong-3 (first stage) Vulcan (engines)
Proposals	Kankoh-maru SASSTO Saturn-Shuttle
Canceled	Adeline Angara Ares I (first stage) Ares V (boosters) Chang Cheng-1 Energia II (Uragan) Falcon 1e Falcon 5 Nexus Hyperbola-2 HOPE-X Hopper / Phoenix HOTOL K-1 Liquid Fly-back Booster MAKS Prime Reusable Booster System Roton Sea Dragon Skylon Tianjiao-1 Spiral V-2 VentureStar

Spacecraft

Active	Boeing Starliner (capsule) Boeing X-37 New Shepard* (capsule) Dragon 2 Shenlong
Retired	Dragon (capsule) Gemini SC-2* SpaceShipOne* SpaceShipTwo* Space Shuttle orbiter X-15*
In development	Dream Chaser Mengzhou (capsule) Orel (spacecraft) (capsule) Orion (capsule) Starship upper stage
Proposals	Avatar Goodyear Meteor Junior Ya Guidao Gainian Feixingqi* SUSIE
Cancelled	Buran-class orbiter (never actually reused, flew just once) H-2 Kliper Lynx* Mustard Silver Dart SOAR X-30 NASP* X-33* SpaceShipThree*

* indicates suborbital vehicles

Terran R

Original Proposed Version 2021

2023 Version

See also

References

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