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Relativity Space has signed an agreement with NASA to convert a large industrial building in southern Mississippi into what may become the world's first autonomous rocket factory. The factory is conveniently located just two miles from where Relativity plans to test engines and stages for its Terran 1 rocket.
Building 9101 at Stennis Space Center encompasses 220,000 square feet of factory facilities, which is greater than the combined area of three American football fields. NASA inherited the space from the US military about 20 years ago but has not used it. The property also includes multiple bridge cranes, which is useful for moving large aerospace parts around, and an 80-foot-high bay for the vertical integration of rockets.
"This building will be a long-term enabler of our vision," said Jordan Noone, co-founder and chief technology officer for Relativity. Based in Los Angeles, the company aspires to use 3D printing, machine learning, and automated technologies to build rockets at a lower cost in days or weeks instead of years.
The nine-year lease, which includes options for extensions, came at a "very low cost" said Noone. The state of Mississippi also offered an incentive package because the company says it will bring high-paying, high-tech jobs to the region. Over the next five years, Relativity will invest $60 million in infrastructure and grow its on-site team from 10 employees—presently engaged in engine and stage testing at a Stennis facility—to 200 workers.
Hmm, yes, but rocket factories tend to harbor ghouls...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rupert Pupnick on Wednesday June 12 2019, @01:27PM (3 children)
What’s autonomous, the rockets or the factory? This somehow doesn’t seem to the main focus of the article. Lots of talk about cost, location, and infrastructure, though.
If the latter, wouldn’t the technology be better employed at a higher volume enterprise?
Are the materials used in 3D printing really ready for service in these kinds of high shock/vibration/temperature environments?
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday June 12 2019, @03:44PM (2 children)
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Wednesday June 12 2019, @04:14PM (1 child)
Sure, yes, mentioned at the end of the third paragraph, almost in passing, when it seems like it should be the main focus of the article. Rather clickbaity, which maybe I should have said instead.
The article also has a link to more detail on the 3D printing technology, which turns out to be metal based. To my knowledge, the only companies doing 3D metal printing right now are startups looking to sell to aircraft manufacturers, I’d say that they have set a very ambitious goal for themselves.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 12 2019, @05:49PM
3D printing saves a ton of time and money if you're doing a one-off. If you're in the business of mass production, you're better off using it to create tools to use to mass-produce other objects; that can save you a ton of time and allow you to steal marches on your competition by getting to market faster, though, so it's something manufacturers are trying to integrate now.
At the moment 3D printing with metal involves sintering and it's tetchy. You have to do it in clean rooms, carefully brush and vacuum excess metal dust off parts, et cetera.
Washington DC delenda est.