Meeting Market Demand
Terran R: Our MEDIUM-TO-HEAVY LIFT REUSABLE ROCKET
Government and commercial customers are looking to launch satellites quickly and inexpensively, without waiting for a ride share slot on a large rocket launch to become available. We saw this market gap and set out to design a product to meet our customers’ needs; that’s where Terran R comes in.
Developed for reuse, Terran R will deliver high-volume performance and reliability, with lower costs and shorter time to market. With an iterative approach to design, test, and development, we are able to design and manufacture cost-effective, high-performance, reliable, and reusable rockets. We work at an unprecedented pace and scale, ensuring speed to market for our customers.
Terran R will launch from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base starting in 2026.
A fully stacked Terran R rocket beside its reusable first stage
Bringing the Best of Terran 1 to Terran R
The technologies created throughout our Terran 1 program were intentionally envisioned to build direct experience relevant to Terran R. This approach was not the easiest path to get our first vehicle to the launch pad, but will now enable our team to capitalize on a significant experience base while executing future programs. Learnings in the following areas directly apply to the Terran R program:
Ascent launch vehicle complexity and development sophistication
High performance, 3D printed, liquid oxygen/methane propulsion systems using a gas generator (GG) combustion cycle
Guidance, navigation, and control algorithms and in-house developed trajectory software
Structural dynamics and vibro-acoustics
Aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics
Thermal and fluid sciences of a dual-cryogen propellant vehicle, including methane behavior
Terran R Architecture
A Customer-Centric Launch Vehicle
As a two-stage, 270-foot-tall rocket with an 18-foot diameter and a 5-meter payload fairing, Terran R is designed to meet the needs of commercial and government entities sending payloads into LEO, MEO, and GEO. Terran R will prioritize first stage reusability, with the capability of launching:
23,500 kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), downrange landing
5,500 kg to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), downrange landing
33,500 kg max payload to LEO, expendable configuration
Terran R’s innovative first stage architecture allows for:
High angle of attack reentry which reduces propellant required for reentry burns
Aerodynamic design for better reentry stability and improved control authority
A passively actuated landing leg deployment system which is elegantly simple, lightweight, and highly operable for rapid reuse
A re-entry heat shield on the aft end designed for rapid reusability
Designed for Rapid Reusability
Smart Economics for our Customers
Terran R is designed with reusability in mind. Our intent is to design for 20 reuses early on, with further development to improve upon this in successive block upgrades. The plan for re-use is as follows:
Shortly after stage separation, Stage 1 will perform a slow flip maneuver using its cold gas Reaction Control System (RCS)
Grid fins deploy
Engines ignite to complete entry burns, slowing velocity and reducing peak loads and heating
Atmospheric entry with grid fin control
Landing burn and passive deployment of command leg slider-mechanism
Touchdown on downrange ship in the ocean
Inspect, refurbish, and recertify for next flight
Bridging the Supply-Demand Gap
The advancement of satellite technology has created launch vehicle demand that cannot be met by current supply. At Relativity, we set out to create a customer-centric rocket to address this gap. Developed for reuse, Terran R has a payload fairing with product-market fit to meet a variety of needs – such as dedicated payload deployments of constellation customers or single geosynchronous satellites to rideshare configurations for multiple customers per launch.
Our Customers and Partners
A testament to our unique approach, we have pre-sold launch service agreements with government and commercial customers totaling more than $1.8 billion. And we’re not alone on this journey; we proudly partner with America’s leading aerospace and innovation agencies to bring launch capabilities to market in record time.
FEATURED CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS
Aeon R Engine Development
Iterative Development for Enhanced Performance
Terran R utilizes our 3D printed Aeon R engines, an evolution of our Aeon 1 engines, to enable optimal propulsion. Leveraging proprietary 3D printing techniques, we are able to design more function into the engines, with less material, for less cost. Through our iterative development process, we have designed a single Aeon R engine to have 25% more thrust than all nine Aeon 1 engines combined.
STAGE 1
13x 3D-printed Aeon R rocket engines
Aeon R sea level thrust of 258,000+ lbf combined vehicle liftoff thrust of 3,354,000 lbf
LOX/subcooled Methane propellants
High pressure gas generator cycle
STAGE 2
1x 3D-printed Aeon Vac engine
Aeon R vacuum thrust of 279,000 lbf
Subcooled LOX/subcooled Methane propellants
High pressure gas generator cycle
First complete Aeon R engine build
Aeon R Testing
Thrust Chamber Assembly (TCA) Test - March 2024
Aeon R full mission duty cycle (MDC) – December 15, 2023
Thrust Chamber Assembly (TCA) Test - February 2024
Aeon R full engine hot fire test – December 13, 2023
Powerpack gas generator test – November 2023
Powerpack igniter testing – November 2023
Thrust chamber assembly (TCA) test – September 2023
Thrust chamber assembly (TCA) test – July 2023
Thrust chamber assembly (TCA) test at 100% power – March 2023
Gas generator (GG) testing – November 2022
Additively Manufactured Engines
Our teams wholeheartedly embrace iteration, leveraging additive techniques for rapid engine component development. This approach accelerates our design process, leading to improved performance and unprecedented testing speed. In less than two years, we progressed from sizing Aeon R to completing a successful mission duty cycle, conducting over 1,000 component and subsystem tests along the way.
Terran R Infrastructure
Designed and Built in Long Beach, CA
The future is being built at our headquarters in the Los Angeles metro area. We anticipate being able to produce 45 Terran R rockets annually from this facility alone – with potential for more first and second stage components based on customer demand over time.
Tested at Stennis Space Center, MS
Initially used to test key components of the Apollo and Shuttle programs, Stennis has since become a hot bed for a new era of commercial space companies. Relativity occupies the largest footprint of such companies, operating numerous test stands, complexes, and supporting infrastructure.
Launched from Cape Canaveral, FL
Formerly used for the Apollo and Gemini programs, Launch Complex 16 is now being upgraded to support Relativity’s Terran R program. The company has an exclusive site agreement from the U.S. Space Force to use the orbital launch site.
