3D rocket printer Relativity signs deal with Iridium and plans to build a California launchpad

3D rocket printer Relativity signs deal with Iridium and plans to build a California launchpad

3D rocket printer Relativity signs deal with Iridium and plans to build a California launchpad

A Terran 1 rocket lifts off from Relativity's launchpad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in this artist rendition.

Relativity

Relativity Space, a growing startup that aims to almost entirely 3D-print rockets, on Wednesday announced it struck another major launch deal, as well as an agreement with the U.S. Air Force, to build a launchpad on the California coastline.

The Los Angeles-based rocket builder signed an agreement with satellite operator Iridium Communications, to launch up to six satellites as needed as early as 2023. Over the course of more than half a dozen launches with SpaceX, Iridium completed its second-generation satellite constellation in January 2019, with 66 operational satellites and 9 spares in orbit.

The Iridium deal means Relativity now has agreements to launch for five different companies, having previously announced contracts with Canadian satellite communications operator Telesat, California-based Momentus, Thai satellite broadband company mu Space and Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. All the contracts have remarkably come before Relativity's first launch, which is scheduled to happen before the end of 2021.

"People are really excited to see where the 3D-printing technology goes," Relativity CEO Tim Ellis told CNBC. "We're going