The United States Space Administration (NASA) announced that it will cooperate with Relativity Space, a rocket company controlled by former Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, to carry out a scientific mission to Mars. This decision is expected to allow the rocket company, which has not yet been fully verified, to "jump ahead" of the veteran powerhouse SpaceX in Mars exploration.
NASA said it has signed a contract with Relativity Space, which will be responsible for building a spacecraft carrying scientific payloads, launching them into space and flying to Mars orbit. This cooperation structure is similar to NASA’s previous model with SpaceX for the International Space Station cargo mission and Firefly Aerospace for the lunar lander project: NASA focuses on science and mission design, while commercial companies provide relatively low-cost carrier and platform infrastructure.
This Mars mission is named "Aeolus" and is planned to carry four instruments to observe and image Mars from Mars orbit. NASA expects that this will provide the first "daily update" global observation data on dust, wind fields and temperature changes in the Martian atmosphere, which will help improve the safety of future landers and even manned missions operating on the surface of Mars. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement that by combining NASA's top scientific instruments with commercial innovation and investment, scientific data can be obtained more frequently and the time window for critical data to reach scientific researchers can be shortened, thereby better preparing for future human missions to Mars.
The Aeolus mission is currently scheduled to launch in 2028, and the schedule is quite tight. Prior to this, Relativity not only had to complete the design and manufacturing of the spacecraft carrying these instruments, but also had to complete the development of the rockets that provided transportation capacity within a limited time. NASA has not disclosed the amount of the contract, and Relativity did not respond to media inquiries about contract details.
Isaacman, who has flown into space twice on SpaceX’s commercial flights, has been an active promoter of this type of public-private partnership model. According to this model, the companies undertaking the missions will bear part of the research and development costs themselves, in exchange for NASA being able to carry out more ambitious deep space missions within a limited budget; this structure has gradually become a common template for NASA to promote large-scale space programs without completely bearing the risk alone.
However, while NASA is gaining more flexibility, it is also taking a lot of risks. Relativity is still a company that has not been truly proven on large-scale missions. There is still uncertainty whether the mission can be launched as planned or even successfully reach Mars. Some of NASA's previous commercial partners either went bankrupt or experienced deviations or landing failures during lunar landing missions. From NASA's perspective, the potential return of such cooperation is that while companies complete government missions, they can also expand relevant technical capabilities to a wider commercial market, such as satellite launches, lunar cargo, etc.; but when missions touch more distant deep space, business models and demand prospects become more ambiguous.
Relativity was founded in 2015 by two engineers who had worked for SpaceX and Blue Origin. Its original vision was to maximize the use of 3D printing technology to create lower-cost launch vehicles. The company's first rocket, "Terran-1", made its first flight in March 2023, but failed mid-flight. Subsequently, Relativity chose to "increase rather than shrink" and turned to the development of a larger "Terran R" rocket, focusing resources on this model with more potential commercial returns.
Before Terran R even reached the launch pad, Relativity encountered financing pressure. Schmidt took action last year, injecting capital into the company and acquiring a controlling stake, while also serving as CEO. While he has kept a low profile on specific plans for this investment, he has publicly expressed interest in orbiting data centers; he is also widely believed to plan to use Relativity to launch a space telescope called Lazuili, a project funded by his family's philanthropy Schmidt Sciences.
To the outside world, this former technology giant executive's sudden move to take over an aerospace company is quite unexpected, because the rocket industry not only has many participants, but is also capital-intensive and has extremely high technical barriers. However, due to the strong market demand for new carrying capabilities and the slow progress of competitor projects such as Blue Origin, if Terran R can successfully enter orbit, Schmidt still has a chance to reap rewards in this round of "rocket race".
The new contract also provides Schmidt with an opportunity to compete with Elon Musk. The two often "confront each other" on the issue of artificial intelligence safety. In the field of space, Musk has been talking about his Mars immigration plan in high profile for many years. However, SpaceX has yet to launch a real scientific mission to Mars in the name of autonomy - the Tesla Roadster launched into space in 2018 was more of a marketing stunt than a serious exploration project.
If Relativity can launch Aeolus as planned in 2028 and successfully reach Mars orbit, this mission may become the first deep space mission in history led by a private enterprise to successfully reach Mars. It will also further reshape the competition for Mars exploration and wider deep space commercialization.