WASHINGTON – Relativity Space, the launcher that has raised more than $ 1 billion in private capital since late last year, announced it is moving to a huge new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Southern California.
Relativity announced on June 30th that it had signed a contract to move to a 1 million square foot facility in Long Beach, California that is part of a 93 acre facility formerly used by Boeing to manufacture C-17s -Freight aircraft was used. Relativity is working with the architecture and design office Gensler to renovate the building so that it can move into the building from January 2022.
The new facility, which is located next to Long Beach Airport, will serve as both Relativity’s new headquarters and the manufacturing facility for the new Terran-R missile. Relativity announced on June 8th, in conjunction with a $ 650 million financing round, the Terran R, a two-stage, fully reusable large launch vehicle.
“Securing this space for Relativity’s headquarters, which is now one of the largest privately-owned facilities, right here in Long Beach, is key to expanding our Terran R program while also leveraging the unparalleled talent here to promote ourselves.” to join us in our mission, “said Tim Ellis, CEO and Co-Founder of Relativity, in a statement.
Relativity moved to Long Beach in early 2020 and opened a 120,000 square meter “Factory of the Future” not far from the airport. The company will keep this facility and use it for the production of its small launch vehicle Terran 1, the first launch of which is not planned for the end of this year from Florida at the earliest.
The new, larger facility will house dozens of the company’s Stargate 3D printers, which Relativity uses to produce almost all of its vehicle components. It will also house other equipment and a mission control center, and eventually house up to 2,000 employees, roughly five times the size of the current workforce.
Ellis hinted in an interview earlier this month about the new funding round that the company is planning an expansion to support work on Terran R. “The printers and the entire factory will not be very different from what we have already built,” he said. “But we certainly need more space and we are working on expansion plans.”
Relativity’s decision to expand in Long Beach rather than building a new factory in another city further establishes the city as the center of the space industry. In addition to Relativity, Long Beach is home to the small launcher companies Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit, as well as SpinLaunch, a company that develops alternative launch technologies. SpaceX is renting space in Long Beach Harbor to house booster salvage ships occupying berths once used by Sea Launch.
City officials have even gone so far as to brand Long Beach “Space Beach” to fuel the growing space industry. “Relativity is a strong and growing leader in the space economy, and we are proud that they have chosen Long Beach as their home,” said Robert Garcia, Long Beach Mayor, in a statement. “This new headquarters will bring thousands of great, well-paying jobs to Long Beach and fuel economic growth for the entire region.”
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