Tomorrow Space NASA is sending an orbiter to Mars with Eric Schmidt's Relativity Space The former Google CEO acquired the space company last year. By Mariella Moon June 18, 2026 6:27 am EST Relativity Space NASA has teamed up with Relativity Space, whose CEO is former Google chief Eric Schmidt , for a Martian orbiter mission called Aeolus. Similar to its partnerships with SpaceX and other private companies, NASA will rely on Relativity Space to ferry its payload to its final destination. Schmidt's company will provide spacecraft, rocket and cruise operations to deliver the agency's science instruments to the Red Planet. They're hoping to launch sometime in 2028. The agency says Aeolus will build on all the previous missions that have studied the Martian atmosphere, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Mars Odyssey and the MAVEN mission, which it recently declared dead after six months of no contact.
Aeolus will carry four complementary science instruments to Mars that will "provide the first integrated, daily, global view of Martian winds, temperatures, dust and clouds." The first one is the Doppler Wind and Temperature Sounder (DWTS‑Ozone) that will measure wind and temperature profiles. There's also the Thermal Limb Sounder (TLS) that will provide vertical temperature profiles and observations of dust and water‑ice clouds. Meanwhile, the Surface Radiometric Sensor Package (SuRSeP) will measure surface energy balance, dust and cloud properties. Finally, the Wide‑Field Context Camera (WFCC) will capture global images of atmospheric activity every day.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2197043/nasa-aeolus-orbiter-mars-eric-schmidt-relativity-space/
Aeolus will carry four complementary science instruments to Mars that will "provide the first integrated, daily, global view of Martian winds, temperatures, dust and clouds." The first one is the Doppler Wind and Temperature Sounder (DWTS‑Ozone) that will measure wind and temperature profiles. There's also the Thermal Limb Sounder (TLS) that will provide vertical temperature profiles and observations of dust and water‑ice clouds. Meanwhile, the Surface Radiometric Sensor Package (SuRSeP) will measure surface energy balance, dust and cloud properties. Finally, the Wide‑Field Context Camera (WFCC) will capture global images of atmospheric activity every day.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2197043/nasa-aeolus-orbiter-mars-eric-schmidt-relativity-space/