NASA selects Eric Schmidt’s Relativity for Mars mission

Relativity Space — acquired last year by former Google executive chair Eric Schmidt after stumbling on the path to orbit — was hired by NASA to build a spacecraft, launch it and fly it to Mars. The contract mirrors deals the agency has used with private firms: NASA handles the science while the company supplies lower-cost infrastructure.

The mission, called Aeolus, will carry four instruments to measure and image Mars from orbit and aims to deliver the first daily, global view of dust, winds and temperature in the Martian atmosphere. NASA said the data will make landings safer and support future human missions.

“By pairing NASA’s world‑class instruments with commercial innovation and investment, we can deliver more science, more often, and reduce the time it takes to get essential data into the hands of researchers preparing for future human missions to Mars,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said in statement.

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