Tim Ellis is an American aerospace engineer and the co-founder and former CEO of Relativity Space.[1]
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.[6]
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.[6]
After graduation, Ellis joined Blue Origin full time where he worked on 3D printed rocket components[7] and served as a propulsion development engineer on crew capsule RCS thrusters, BE-4, and New Glenn.[6]
At Blue Origin, Ellis was credited for bringing metal 3D-printing in-house.[6]
In 2015, Ellis co-founded Relativity Space with his former classmate, Jordan Noone,[8] with the mission of being the first company to launch a fully 3D printed rocket into orbit.[9] Ellis and Noone received their initial $500,000 in funding from cold emailing Mark Cuban.[10] 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.[11]
Relativity Space announced its US$650 million Series E funding at US$4.2 billion valuation in June 2021.[12]
Ellis stepped away from the CEO position in March 2025. He will continue to "support the team as Co-founder and Board member."[13]
Ellis is the youngest member of the National Space Council User Advisory Group by nearly two decades.[6]
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's 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][7]
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