March and April 2025 Company Update

Earlier this year, we shared a major Terran R program update. But the progress didn't stop there. We’ve been full steam ahead across all aspects of design, build, test, and launch. Let’s dive into the key milestones from March and April.  

Design  
On the design front, the team completed nearly 30 component-level critical design reviews (CDR), bringing total component CDR completion to 54% and further advancing Terran R’s detailed design maturity. The design of the second stage vacuum engine is progressing, with the manufacturing release of the top-level assembly and all sub-assemblies.  

 Build  
Vehicle manufacturing is picking up momentum. We finished welding and inspecting the first Terran R stage 1 fuel barrel, which measures in at 20 feet tall and has 80 welded stringers. The team installed the first of many fasteners on Terran R’s domes in their mechanical assembly stations, and more domes for future flights are arriving at the factory. Composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) are being welded and cleaned ahead of tank integration, stage 2 COPV manifold tubes are being bent, and the first welded section of the manifold has been completed.   

After conducting development welds to burn down technical risk, the team successfully completed the first circumferential friction stir weld (CFSW) for flight hardware, joining the stage 2 common dome to the stage 2 LOX barrel. This is a huge milestone towards tank fabrication and represents the beginning of a vehicle manufacturing and testing surge on the horizon in 2025.  

Meanwhile, qualification engine hardware is in production. The main combustion chamber (MCC) is complete, and the main injector assembly passed acceptance testing for integration onto the MCC. A previous development engine that has over 2,500+ seconds of testing life accumulated is now back in Long Beach, undergoing disassembly and inspection for conversion into a development article for the second stage vacuum engine. The first and second stage engines share roughly 80% design commonality, and manufacturing for the unique components of the vacuum engine, such as the skirt nozzle extension, is also underway. 

On the factory floor, teams are hustling to get the necessary manufacturing and test infrastructure in place. Our dome flipping tool to help maneuver domes on the CFSW is active, and a larger machine shop area is coming to life with new CNC machines cutting chips and powder bed fusion printers undergoing calibration for high volume production.  

 Test  
The development program for Aeon R is nearing completion as we move toward engine qualification, expected to be complete this year. The team wrapped up an Aeon R “beer koozie” testing campaign, which simulates the enclosure the engine will have during stage testing and flight. This test validated key learnings of the flight-like Environmental Control System (ECS) to maintain near-ambient engine bay temperatures during chill. Gimbaled hot fire testing continues with thrust vector control (TVC) motion up to 5.5 degrees, the maximum range of the stand. Another third generation (Aeon R 1.3) development engine – the final article before qualification – arrived at NASA Stennis for testing, and we’re regularly testing two engines back-to-back. 

Nearby, conversion of the historic A2 stage test stand is underway, with the first major fluids equipment, LOX tanks and LOX/LNG vaporizers, arriving on-site.  

On the avionics and software side of the house, the team reached orbit in hardware-out-of-the-loop (HOOTL) testing with a full-scale vehicle box count – a major validation ahead of hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) testing this year. GNC algorithms have been further proven with engine mission duty ascent profile testing, and avionics boxes are undergoing thermal and vibration testing.  

Our Long Beach structural test stand, affectionately known as the tender loving crusher, is nearing activation following the arrival of reaction control towers and installation of the base barrel, load head, and actuators. On a nearby test stand, the team conducted preliminary load testing of an ~18-foot diameter development proto-barrel. 

 Launch  
At LC-16 in Cape Canaveral, the team is hard at work erecting the first steel columns for Terran R’s horizontal integration facility, in parallel with continued build-out of the pad and critical supporting infrastructure.  

 It’s been a busy few months, with more action to come. Stay tuned for more progress on the path to first flight!