  We introduce a new relativistic astrophysics code, SpECTRE, that combines a
discontinuous Galerkin method with a task-based parallelism model. SpECTRE's
goal is to achieve more accurate solutions for challenging relativistic
astrophysics problems such as core-collapse supernovae and binary neutron star
mergers. The robustness of the discontinuous Galerkin method allows for the use
of high-resolution shock capturing methods in regions where (relativistic)
shocks are found, while exploiting high-order accuracy in smooth regions. A
task-based parallelism model allows efficient use of the largest supercomputers
for problems with a heterogeneous workload over disparate spatial and temporal
scales. We argue that the locality and algorithmic structure of discontinuous
Galerkin methods will exhibit good scalability within a task-based parallelism
framework. We demonstrate the code on a wide variety of challenging benchmark
problems in (non)-relativistic (magneto)-hydrodynamics. We demonstrate the
code's scalability including its strong scaling on the NCSA Blue Waters
supercomputer up to the machine's full capacity of 22,380 nodes using 671,400
threads.
