RELATIVITY SPACE

Tim Ellis (former Blue Origin engineer) and Jordan Noone (former SpaceX intern) founded Relativity in 2015 with a radical thesis: 3D printing could reduce the number of parts in a rocket from 100,000 to under 1,000, slashing manufacturing time and cost. They built Stargate, an enormous robotic 3D printer, and created their own metal alloys optimized for printing.

Y Combinator backed them in 2016 — one of the most unusual YC companies ever. In March 2023, Terran 1 launched and reached space but did not achieve orbit due to an upper stage failure.

Relativity Space is building rockets using autonomous 3D-printing technology. Their Stargate system is the world's largest metal 3D printer, capable of printing rocket structures in days instead of the months required by traditional manufacturing.

Revenue will come from launch services once Terran R is operational. Currently, they generate some revenue from their 3D printing and manufacturing services.

Terran R (medium-class reusable rocket, in development), Stargate (world's largest metal 3D printer), Terran 1 (retired after test flight), Custom 3D-printed aerospace components

Complete Terran R development and achieve orbit. Prove that 3D-printed rockets can be reliable and cost-competitive with traditionally manufactured rockets.

Win government and commercial launch contracts for medium-class payloads. License the 3D printing technology for non-space applications.

Terran 1 failed to reach orbit, and the company pivoted away from it entirely to focus on the larger, reusable Terran R. This means Relativity has yet to deliver a payload to orbit despite $1.3 billion in funding.

The technology risk is immense — no one has ever 3D-printed a full rocket that works reliably. Timeline delays and cost overruns are significant.

Tiger Global, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, BOND Capital (Mary Meeker), Y Combinator, Mark Cuban