Relativity Space has reemerged to challenge SpaceX’s race to Mars

Relativity Space has entered the building. The 3D-printed rocket startup has emerged from a restructuring period to possibly beat Space X to Mars. Last week, NASA announced a partnership with Relativity to build a spacecraft to house a payload suite of specialized Aeolus atmospheric‑science instruments and launch it to Mars in 2028—the year Space X is eyeing its own Martian cargo missions. The four Aeolus instruments will orbit the Red Planet, providing the first integrated, daily, global view of Martian winds, temperatures, dust, and clouds. The resulting data will improve atmospheric models for more predictable mission planning and safer uncrewed and potentially crewed landings. Scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center are currently building the probes. NASA’s partnerships with private industry allow the space agency to focus on scientific goals and share mission costs and risk. “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 a statement. The announcement signals Relativity’s emergence from a period of repositioning. Former Blue Origin and SpaceX engineers Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, respectively, cofounded the Long Beach, California, company in 2015 to build lower-cost rockets using 3D printing. Their first design, Terran 1, was an expendable, two-stage, small-lift launch rocket propelled by next-generation “methalox” fuel, combining methane and liquid oxygen. When its maiden voyage in 2023 failed to reach orbit, Relativity shifted its attention to revising its heavy-lift model, Terran R, a two-stage, partially reusable rocket with a 23-ton payload capacity. However, the following year Relativity hit financial hurdles when fundraising slowed. Salvation came in the form of former Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, wh