{"id":4606,"date":"2026-06-18T22:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4606"},"modified":"2026-06-18T22:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:33:20","slug":"nasa-taps-relativity-space-for-mars-science-mission-to-launch-from-cape-canaveral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4606","title":{"rendered":"NASA taps Relativity Space for Mars science mission to launch from Cape Canaveral"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA tapped commercial company Relativity Space to fly its next big Mars science project, which aims to help better protect astronaut landings in the future.<\/p>

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The Aeolus mission, which will take a global survey of Martian winds, temperatures, dust and clouds, would launch on Relativity\u2019s in-development Terran R rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station\u2019s Launch Complex 16, aiming for liftoff in 2028.<\/p>\n

Relativity would also build the spacecraft housing the Aeolus suite of scientific tools, which would fly to the planet during the Earth-to-Mars transfer window that runs shortest about every two years.<\/p>\n

Relativity Space, which was founded in 2015, has not launched anything for more than three years, but has aspirations to return to Space Coast flight before the end of 2026. Its lone launch of a majority 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket lifted off in March 2023 as a proof of concept from LC-16. The company soon after shut down that smaller rocket\u2019s production plans in favor of the larger Terran R while also building out bigger facilities on the Cape.<\/p>\n

Funding issues slowed company progress before Eric Schmidt, the former Google executive chair, invested and made himself CEO.<\/p>\n