Relativity Space wins U.S. military contract for 2023 launch - SpaceNews

Relativity Space was selected to launch a small U.S. military payload to orbit in 2023 using a 3D-printed rocket.

The company in a statement March 15 said it received its first Defense Department contract to launch a DoD Space Test Program mission. The award was first announced March 9 by Relativity’s CEO Tim Ellis in an interview with CNBC.

The Defense Innovation Unit — an organization that works with commercial companies and startups — picked Relativity to become a launch services provider for the DoD Space Test Program’s Rapid Agile Launch Initiative. RALI is a program managed by the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center Launch Enterprise to identify viable commercial launch systems with capacity between 450 to 1,200 kilograms to low Earth orbit.