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Baytown bound

To avoid the Panama Canal, Relativity Space may move some operations to Texas

"We are exploring options to expand our manufacturing capabilities."

Eric Berger – | 80
Artist's rendering of a Terran R rocket launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Artist's rendering of a Terran R rocket launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: Relativity Space
Artist's rendering of a Terran R rocket launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: Relativity Space

As he consolidates control over Relativity Space, new owner and chief executive Eric Schmidt is planning significant changes at the launch company, including a likely move to the Lone Star State.

Schmidt's recent acquisition of the California-based company, which has largely evolved away from its 3D-printing origins to becoming a more conventional rocket developer, has solved Relativity's primary need. The company has been in a cash crunch for months, and being acquired by one of the 50 wealthiest people on the planet provides financial stability.

One source said Schmidt has made a "mega" investment in Relativity, but the company has not publicly stated the size. It is likely to be at least $1 billion, if not more. Schmidt is also taking an active hand in operations.

Undertaking his first CEO role in more than a decade since leaving Google, Schmidt is said to be going all in on setting Relativity on a sustainable path. The company faces several major challenges as it seeks to bring the Terran R rocket to market, particularly in logistics.

This is because Terran R is a large launch vehicle, essentially the bigger cousin to the Falcon 9 rocket. The Terran R vehicle has a diameter—17 feet, 9 inches compared to the Falcon 9's 12-foot diameter—which makes it too large to move across the country by highway.

Big rocket, big logistics

As Ars reported last September, the company's initial plan was to manufacture first stages at its massive factory in Long Beach, California, and ship them through the Panama Canal to a test site at the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. From there, they would be moved by barge again to the launch site in Florida. The total shipping cost to get a first stage to Florida and a barge back to Long Beach was at one point estimated to be as high as $3.45 million.

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However, two sources have indicated that Relativity Space will likely move a significant portion of its Terran R manufacturing to Baytown, Texas. This is a small city just east of Houston that, as its name suggests, is located on a bay. In the Houston metro area, Baytown is known for its ample petrochemical facilities, located on the Houston Ship Channel, which offers easy access to Galveston Bay and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico.

Although Baytown does not have any historical affinity with aerospace, its location on the water offers far more straightforward access to Relativity's test facilities in Mississippi and its launch site in Florida. There are other benefits. The cost of living in the region is far lower than Southern California, and due to the location of Johnson Space Center just 20 miles away, there is a reservoir of space talent in the region.

A spokesperson for Relativity Space did not confirm the move.

"As we scale Terran R production to meet growing customer demand, we are exploring options to expand our manufacturing capabilities," the spokesperson said. "Our focus is on ensuring we have the right footprint to achieve the production cadence required to serve our customers."

Texas space is on the rise

For logistics and other reasons, Relativity has been evaluating locations across several states that border the Gulf of Mexico, including Texas, over recent years, multiple sources said. The company is expected to continue operating its large "Wormhole" factory in Long Beach, California, which is more than 1 million square feet in size. A second factory in Texas would likely be used to build propellant tanks and assemble stages for testing in Mississippi and launch in Florida.

The addition of a second factory in Texas would underscore the investment to which Schmidt appears committed to making Relativity a major player in US launch.

It is unclear whether state or local officials have provided any incentives to Relativity for relocating a significant chunk of its manufacturing operations to Texas. Last year the state legislature created the Texas Space Commission and provided $350 million in funding to support commercial space operations. In February the commission awarded the first of these grants, valued at $47.7 million, to five companies with Texas-based operations: Starlab Space, Intuitive Machines, Firefly Aerospace, SpaceX, and Blue Origin.

A leading figure behind the commission is State Rep. Greg Bonnen, whose district includes Johnson Space Center. Bonnen has signaled that the commission is a long-term project by the state to ensure its economic prosperity in the 21st century by continuing to grow existing businesses in Texas, but also to attract new companies to the state.

SpaceX and Firefly already manufacture rockets in Texas. Adding Relativity Space would be a significant coup for a state that, only a decade ago, was known primarily in space for being the home of NASA's human spaceflight activities.

Photo of Eric Berger
Eric Berger Senior Space Editor
Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston.
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