NASA Selects Eric Schmidt's Relativity Space for 2028 Mars Atmospheric Mission

The race to Mars is transitioning from a purely governmental endeavor to a high-stakes arena for commercial space pioneers, and NASA's latest partnership signals a major vote of confidence in an emerging player. In a landmark collaboration, the US space agency has selected Relativity Space—the rocket venture now helmed by former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt—to spearhead a crucial 2028 scientific mission to the Red Planet. This ambitious project tasks the young aerospace firm with delivering NASA’s Aeolus payload to Martian orbit, marking a critical test for Relativity's next-generation launch systems and its ability to handle deep-space logistics.

Quick summary

• Mars Mission Secured: NASA has selected Relativity Space to launch and operate the Aeolus payload to Mars, scheduled for departure in 2028.
• Scientific Goal: The mission will study Martian atmospheric dynamics—including wind, dust, and temperature—to secure future human landings.
• Tech Industry Leadership: Relativity Space is led by tech billionaire Eric Schmidt, who stepped in as CEO in 2025 to steer the company through its next phase of rocket development.

Why it matters

For decades, deep-space missions were the exclusive domain of state agencies and established aerospace giants. By trusting an emerging company like Relativity Space with a Mars-bound payload, NASA is cementing its shift toward a commercialized space economy. The data gathered by the Aeolus payload is not just academic; it is foundational for the future of human spaceflight. Understanding the highly volatile Martian atmosphere is the key to mastering the complex physics associated with entry, descent, and landing (EDL) systems. Without highly accurate, global daily wind and dust tracking, landing heavy payloads or human crews on Mars remains an unacceptable risk. This partnership also places former tech titan Eric Schmidt directly in competition with other Silicon Valley veterans in the commercial space race.

Background

Relativity Space first captured global attention with its radical approach to aerospace manufacturing: using giant proprietary 3D printers to construct entire rockets. This technology promised to drastically reduce the parts count, assembly times, and supply chain complexity traditional rocket building requires. In 2023, the company launched Terran 1, the world’s first 3D-printed rocket. While the vehicle successfully cleared max-Q (the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure) and achieved stage separation, it ultimately suffered a second-stage failure and failed to reach orbit.

Following the Terran 1 test flight, Relativity pivoted away from the small-satellite market to focus entirely on its larger, reusable medium-to-heavy-lift rocket, the Terran R. In 2025, Eric Schmidt, who had transitioned from leading Google to investing heavily in defense tech and frontier sciences, took over as CEO of Relativity Space. Under his leadership, the company has doubled down on scaling its manufacturing technology to support deep-space contracts. The Terran R, which is slated for its inaugural test flight later this year, is the vehicle expected to carry the weight of both the company's financial future and NASA's scientific ambitions.

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Martian Atmosphere

The Aeolus payload represents a significant leap forward in planetary science. Unlike previous orbiters that focused primarily on surface geology or localized atmospheric readings, Aeolus is designed to offer a truly global, integrated view of Martian weather patterns. Equipped with four specialized instruments, the satellite will continuously monitor global winds, temperatures, dust storms, and cloud formations.

For future crewed missions, this data is invaluable. Mars has an atmosphere that is only about 1 percent as dense as Earth's, yet it is highly dynamic and prone to planet-encircling dust storms. These storms can choke solar panels, damage sensitive equipment, and completely alter the atmospheric density profile, making landing operations highly unpredictable. By mapping these variables globally on a daily basis, Aeolus will provide the meteorological blueprint required to design safer, more resilient landing gears and heat shields.

The Engineering Hurdles of a 2028 Cruise Mission

Landing on Mars is notoriously difficult, but getting there is half the battle. Relativity Space is not just acting as a launch provider for this mission; the agreement mandates that the company oversee the spacecraft design, the launch vehicle, and the complex cruise operations required to navigate the millions of miles between Earth and Mars.

To execute this, Relativity will rely on its upcoming Terran R launch system. This places an immense amount of pressure on the company's engineering team to perfect the Terran R during its initial test flights. Transitioning from a failed suborbital test of Terran 1 to a fully functional, deep-space capable Terran R within a few short years is an aggressive timeline. The 2028 launch window is dictated by orbital mechanics—Earth and Mars align favorably only once every 26 months—leaving very little margin for development delays or testing setbacks.

A Battle of Tech Dynasties in Space

The appointment of Eric Schmidt as CEO of Relativity Space in 2025 signaled a broader trend: the convergence of Silicon Valley software expertise and heavy industrial aerospace. Schmidt’s tenure at Google was marked by scaling a search engine into a global conglomerate. At Relativity, his challenge is to scale physical manufacturing and secure high-value federal defense and civil space contracts.

By securing the Aeolus mission, Relativity is positioning itself as a competitor to established launch providers. While SpaceX has dominated the commercial launch market for over a decade, NASA is eager to foster a redundant ecosystem of launch providers to avoid a monopoly. Relativity’s 3D-printing paradigm offers a distinct theoretical advantage in production speed, potentially allowing them to iterate and manufacture rockets faster than traditional casting and CNC-machining methods.

Qnews24h insight

From an editorial perspective, NASA’s decision to award a Mars-bound mission to Relativity Space is a calculated gamble. While the space agency routinely utilizes private contractors, trusting a company whose primary heavy-lift rocket (Terran R) has not yet flown a single orbital mission reflects a highly aggressive risk tolerance.

However, this risk is balanced by the structural changes within Relativity Space itself. The transition to Eric Schmidt’s leadership brought institutional discipline, deep financial backing, and a pivot away from small-scale experimental rockets toward market-demanded heavy-lift capability. The real test will be the upcoming Terran R inaugural launch. If the vehicle succeeds, Relativity Space will immediately validate 3D-printed metal alloys for deep-space environments. If it fails, NASA may be forced to look to alternative launch providers to avoid missing the critical 2028 Martian orbital window. Ultimately, this contract demonstrates that NASA is no longer just a customer of commercial space; it is actively underwriting the high-risk development of the next generation of aerospace giants.

Sources

This report is based on information originally sourced from The Verge and TechCrunch.