Thursday, June 18, 2026
NASA taps Relativity Space to privately develop a Mars orbiter
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a public-private partnership on June 17 under which Relativity Space will privately develop a Mars orbiter mission, with NASA supplying its Aeolus atmospheric-science instrument suite - four instruments, including a Doppler Wind and Temperature Sounder and a Thermal Limb Sounder, built and integrated at NASA's Ames Research Center - while Relativity provides the spacecraft, its Terran R rocket, and cruise operations to deliver them to Mars. The mission is targeted to launch in 2028, and Isaacman framed the arrangement as a model for future privately funded science missions. It hands the Eric Schmidt-backed launch startup a high-profile commercial-science role ahead of Terran R's debut.