BLAST

First 3D-Printed Rocket Launch Didn’t Quite Go to Plan

The rocket successfully launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida—then things went awry.

The world’s first 3D-printed rocket failed to reach orbit Wednesday night after developing a technical problem shortly after liftoff. The demonstration flight from Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket—which was not carrying any people—would also have been the first rocket to reach orbit using liquid methane fuel if it had been a success. But around four minutes after blasting off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, a problem developed with the rocket’s second stage. Full details of the nature of the problem are set to be released by the company at a later date. The flight had already been scrubbed twice in the last two weeks before Wednesday’s launch owing to other technical hitches.