Relativity Space has flown one rocket. It broke apart in the air in 2023. On Wednesday, NASA gave the company a Mars mission anyway.
The mission is Aeolus, due to launch in 2028, and the technical reality is that almost nothing it depends on exists yet. Relativity has to design and build the spacecraft, finish a rocket that has never flown, and make a launch window roughly two years away. The rocket in question is the Terran R. Beyond Tmrw, a space-industry site, put its first flight at late 2026.
Under the hood
Aeolus carries four instruments. Beyond Tmrw lists a Doppler wind and temperature sounder, a limb sounder, surface radiometric sensors and a wide-field camera, built at NASA’s Ames center. The aim is a single, unified daily picture of winds, temperatures, dust and clouds across the whole planet. A companion radar would map ice and geology beneath the surface.
The detail that matters is the cadence. Orbiters such as MAVEN and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter produce excellent science, the site noted, but they were not designed for daily global monitoring. Landing planners want exactly that, because dust loading, wind and temperature at the moment of arrival decide how an entry goes. NASA has said it needs this kind of data before sending humans near the surface.
Who does what
The arrangement follows a pattern NASA has used for years. The agency designs the science and a private partner builds and flies the hardware. SpaceX has such a deal for cargo runs to the space station, and Firefly Aerospace has one for a Moon lander.
Beyond Tmrw described a six-year reimbursable Space Act Agreement. NASA supplies the payload and the data-processing software, while Relativity owns the spacecraft and handles cruise operations. NASA would run the instruments for at least one Martian year, about 687 Earth days. It also reported that the company says it will pay for the ride itself, with an unnamed backer funding the mission. Briefs, a market newsletter, said NASA has not stated what it is paying Relativity, and that Relativity did not comment.
The people behind it
Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, bought a majority stake last year after the company ran into fundraising trouble, and made himself chief executive. He has said little about his plans. He is reportedly using the rocket to launch a space telescope funded by his family foundation, and he has talked publicly about putting data centers in orbit.
As ever with startups, the track record is a worry. Briefs observed that NASA’s history with young partners is mixed, with some going bankrupt before delivering and one Moon lander tipping over on arrival. NASA is wagering that lower costs justify that risk. If Aeolus launches on time, Relativity would be the first private company to send a real mission to Mars, which is something Elon Musk has promised for years without doing.
Sources
- NASA Picks Relativity Space for 2028 Mars Mission
- NASA Mars Mission 2028 Relativity Space Partnership
