NASA taps a new launcher for a commercial Mars mission
~ 2026-06NASA / Relativity Space
NASA picked Relativity Space — the 3D-printing rocket maker now led by Eric Schmidt — to build, launch and fly the Aeolus orbiter to Mars under a COTS-style public-private partnership (NASA supplies the science, the company the low-cost ride). Aeolus would deliver the first daily global view of Martian dust, winds and temperature, targeting a 2028 launch on Relativity's still-unflown reusable Terran R — a direct challenge to SpaceX in commercial deep space.