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Tim Ellis (engineer)

Tim Ellis is an American aerospace engineer and the co-founder and former CEO of Relativity Space.[1]

Early life and education

Ellis grew up in Plano, Texas.[2] He is the oldest of three children.[3]

Ellis started college at the University of Southern California, where he planned to graduate and be a screenwriter, and study as part of USC’s Thematic Option program.[4] However, during his freshman orientation he switched his major to aerospace engineering.[3] Ellis and Relativity's other co-founder and CTO, Jordan Noone, both held leadership positions at USC's Rocket Propulsion Lab (RPL).[5] Within RPL, Ellis and Noone helped launch the first student-designed and built rocket into space.

While at the University of Southern California, Ellis had three consecutive internships with Blue Origin.[4]

Ellis holds a BS and a MS in Aerospace Engineering from USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Career

Blue Origin

After graduation, Ellis joined Blue Origin full time where he worked on 3D printed rocket components[6] and served as a propulsion development engineer on crew capsule RCS thrusters, BE-4, and New Glenn.

At Blue Origin, Ellis was credited for bringing metal 3D-printing in-house.

Relativity Space

In 2015, Ellis co-founded Relativity Space with his former classmate, Jordan Noone,[7] with the mission of being the first company to launch a fully 3D printed rocket into orbit.[8] Ellis and Noone received their initial $500,000 in funding from cold emailing Mark Cuban.[9] In April 2018, Cuban told the Los Angeles Times over email that he invested in Relativity because, "They are smart, innovative, focused and always learning."[3] Ellis and Noone were also part of Y Combinator in their 2016 cohort.[10]

Relativity Space announced its US$650 million Series E funding at US$4.2 billion valuation in June 2021.[11]

Ellis stepped away from the CEO position in March 2025. He will continue to "support the team as Co-founder and Board member."[12]

Other activities

Ellis is the youngest member of the National Space Council User Advisory Group by nearly two decades.[13]

Recognitions

Ellis was included on the 2019 TIME 100 Next List, under the Phenoms section.[14] Former NASA astronaut, Terry W. Virts, wrote the TIME excerpt on why Ellis was chosen.[15]

In 2019, Ellis was included on MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 issue. He was placed in the Entrepreneurs category.[16]

Ellis was recognized by Forbes in two of their 30 Under 30 lists in 2019 - the Manufacturing and Industry list[17] and the Big Money list.[18]

Ellis was nominated by Via Satellite for their Satellite Executive of the Year 2019 award.[19]

In 2018, Ellis was included on Inc.'s Rising Stars list of Most Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs.[20][6]

References

  1. CEO Tim Ellis and His Company Relativity Space Use Advanced Tech to Rocket Forward Los Angeles Times, 2024-07-28, retrieved 2025-07-20^
  2. Reopening the American Frontier: Promoting Partnerships Between Commercial Space and the U.S Government to Advance Exploration and Settlement NASA, July 13, 2017, retrieved August 14, 2020^
  3. Samantha Masunaga. Entrepreneur seeks to boldly go where no one has gone before: 3-D printing nearly an entire rocket Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2018, retrieved August 10, 2020^
  4. Guttierez Ignacio. We're Going to 3-D Print the First Rocket Made on Mars USC Viterbi School of Engineering, August 23, 2019, retrieved August 14, 2020^
  5. Greg Autry. Relativity: Spaceflight Imprinted With Flexibility Forbes, March 26, 2020, retrieved August 14, 2020^
  6. Kevin Ryan. Life on Mars Looks a Little More Possible Thanks to This Startup's 3-D Printed Rocket Inc., April 30, 2018, retrieved August 10, 2020^
  7. Lee Billings. Q&A: 3-D Printing Rockets with Relativity Space CEO Tim Ellis Scientific American, April 16, 2018, retrieved August 10, 2020^
  8. Denrie Caila Perez. Relativity Space to Launch First 3D-Printed Rocket Engineering.com, April 29, 2020, retrieved August 19, 2020^
  9. Catherine Clifford. These guys cold-emailed Mark Cuban and got a half-million-dollar investment in their start-up CNBC, January 25, 2018, retrieved August 10, 2020^
  10. Eric Berger. Amid heavy competition, Relativity Space secures $140 million in funding Ars Technica, October 1, 2019, retrieved August 24, 2020^
  11. Michael Sheetz. Relativity Space raises $650 million from Fidelity and others to build 3D-printed SpaceX competitor CNBC, 2021-06-08, retrieved 2021-07-07^
  12. Tim Ellis. Today marks a bold new chapter for @relativityspace- read below: March 10, 2025, retrieved March 11, 2025^
  13. Irene Tzinis. Mr. Tim Ellis NASA, June 12, 2020, retrieved August 11, 2020^
  14. Meet the 2019 TIME 100 Next Time, retrieved August 19, 2020^
  15. Terry Virts. TIME Next 100: Tim Ellis TIME, retrieved August 19, 2020^
  16. Innovators Under 35 2019 MIT Technology Review, retrieved August 19, 2020^
  17. 30 Under 30 2019: Manufacturing & Industry Forbes, retrieved August 19, 2020^
  18. 30 Under 30 2019: Big Money Forbes, retrieved August 19, 2020^
  19. Mark Holmes, Jeffery Hill. The Nominees for 2019 Satellite Executive of the Year Via Satellite, March 2020, retrieved August 19, 2020^
  20. Meet the 30 Most Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs of 2018 Inc.com, retrieved August 19, 2020^