NASA has tapped Relativity Space to build a spacecraft, launch it, and fly it to Mars by 2028 in a mission called Aeolus -- four instruments that would deliver what NASA expects to be the first daily, global view of dust, wind and temperature in the Martian atmosphere. The orbiter would double as a communications relay, and the development is being paid for by a philanthropic backer Relativity has not named.
The company is an unusual choice. Relativity's Terran R has never reached orbit, and the firm ran into fundraising trouble before Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, took a majority stake last year and installed himself as chief executive. NASA is explicitly accepting that risk: there is no guarantee the mission makes it off the ground on a timeline this aggressive.
“NASA is explicitly accepting that risk: there is no guarantee the mission makes it off the ground on a timeline this aggressive.”
The upside is strategic. If Aeolus launches on schedule, Relativity could become the first private company to reach Mars -- a milestone SpaceX has chased for years -- and validate a model where deep-pocketed philanthropy, not just federal appropriations, funds planetary science. It's a sign that the privatization of space has moved from low-Earth orbit to interplanetary ambitions.