Relativity Space has a successful failure with the debut of Terran 1

Enlarge / Terran 1 lights up the night sky in Florida on Wednesday evening. (credit: Relativity Space)

The shiny white Terran 1 rocket launched on its third attempt Wednesday night, lifting off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The small, methane-fueled rocket then produced some stunning views as a blueish-green flame powered it toward space against the blackness of night. The first stage, with nine engines, appeared to perform nominally as it rose smoothly through the atmosphere, firing for more than two minutes. Then the rocket's second stage successfully separated.

After this, something happened. From the video on board the rocket, it appeared the second-stage engine attempted to ignite but could not sustain this ignition. So far the company has not stated precisely what went wrong, be it a problem with one of the propellant pumps, injectors, or igniter system. Regardless, the second stage—which carried no payload due to the experimental nature of the test flight—fell back into the Atlantic Ocean.