NASA Taps Relativity Space to Deliver Aeolus Mars Atmospheric Mission in 2028

NASA is moving from talking about commercial Mars services to assigning one to a real science mission.

The agency said June 17 that it will partner with Relativity Space on Aeolus, a Mars atmospheric mission scheduled to launch in 2028. Under the arrangement, NASA will provide the Aeolus science payload, while Relativity Space will supply the spacecraft, rocket and cruise operations needed to deliver the instruments to Mars.

The announcement matters because it turns NASA’s commercial-Mars strategy into a specific mission plan. In May 2024, NASA selected nine U.S. companies for 12 concept studies on commercial services for robotic Mars science, including payload delivery. The new Aeolus deal goes beyond those studies by pairing a NASA-developed science package with a private company responsible for getting it to Mars and operating the spacecraft in transit and at the planet. NASA said the partnership is being carried out under its first six-year reimbursable Space Act Agreement, which the agency describes as a stable framework for sustained collaboration.

Aeolus is designed to study the Martian atmosphere at a level NASA says has not been done before. The agency described it as a suite of four complementary instruments that will provide “the first integrated, daily, global view of Martian winds, temperatures, dust, and clouds.” NASA said those measurements are meant to improve models of dust, winds, temperature and seasonal atmospheric behavior, and to directly inform entry, descent and landing systems for future Mars missions.

NASA’s Ames Research Center in California will design, build and integrate the payload. Relativity Space will manage spacecraft development and mission operations. NASA said it will support science-instrument operations for at least one Martian year — about 687 Earth days — while Relativity maintains the spacecraft. The agency also said it will develop the data-processing pipeline that turns raw measurements into ready-to-use data products for researchers.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced the partnership during an event at Relativity Space on June 17, according to a NASA photo caption. In the agency’s news release, he cast the arrangement as a model for speeding up science and preparing for future human exploration.

Space Act Agreements are one of NASA’s partnership tools for work with outside organizations. Under NASA guidance, a reimbursable agreement means NASA’s costs associated with the activity are reimbursed by the partner. Beyond that, NASA has not publicly outlined additional terms in the announcement.

The agency framed Aeolus as both a science mission and a practical step toward future landings on Mars. Better daily atmospheric data could sharpen forecasts of dust storms, winds and seasonal changes, all of which matter for spacecraft trying to enter and descend through the planet’s thin but dynamic atmosphere.

“Public-private partnerships like this are a force multiplier for science,” Isaacman said. “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.”