Relativity hires senior Tesla manager to help automate rocket production

Enlarge / Can this 3D printer really make rocket parts?
No one could argue that a company like SpaceX doesn't have one of the most cutting-edge rocket factories in the world, as the company builds some of the most advanced boosters launching today. And yet much of the manufacturing is still done by hand at various work stations. Humans remain integral to building rockets.
However, a new company called Relativity Space is among those trying to radically automate the process. The California-based company is perhaps best known for its goal to print the entirety of its boosters, from payload fairings to the engines, with additive manufacturing. Equally revolutionary is the company's goal to automate the production of rockets.
To that end, Relativity recently announced the hiring of Tobias Duschl, who has worked for the last six years as senior director of global business operations for Tesla, the electric vehicle company. He will run operations for Relativity as it transitions from development to commercial spaceflight operations over the next three to four years.
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