Lockheed Martin Teams with Relativity Space for NASA Tipping Point Mission

Los Angeles, California (October 19, 2020) – NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced a 370 million investment with 14 U.S. partners that will demonstrate and mature space technologies to help forge a path to sustainable Artemis operations on the Moon. 

Lockheed Martin will complete an in-space demonstration mission using liquid hydrogen — the most challenging of the cryogenic propellants, as a recipient of an $89.7 million contract from this Tipping Point solicitation. This mission will allow Lockheed Martin and their partners to test more than one dozen cryogenic fluid management technologies over the next five years. 

Relativity Space will launch the in-orbit refueling demonstration mission on its Terran 1, the world’s first 3D printed rocket, in October 2023. 

“Lockheed Martin put together a great team for their Tipping Point contract, to advance in-orbit refueling. Relativity is proud to be the launch provider for this demonstration mission, and we appreciate Lockheed Martin’s support of our disruptive 3D printing approach,” said Tim Ellis, CEO and co-founder, Relativity Space. “In addition to demonstrating Lockheed Martin’s in-orbit cryogenic fluid management capabilities, this mission will also highlight the significant advantages 3D printing brings to space launch over traditional manufacturing, including dramatically decreasing time to launch even for specialized payloads.”  

Relativity is uniquely positioned to provide timely launch for this mission, thanks to the company’s 3D printing technology, which will enable a custom fairing to be created for Lockheed Martin’s specialized payload, without any increase in production time. Additionally, Relativity’s highly flexible ground operations enable the company to support specific ground fueling and venting capabilities. 

Visit Lockheed Martin for more details about the mission.