WASHINGTON — Relativity Space plans to launch a Mars orbiter in 2028 as part of a new initiative to privately develop planetary missions.
The company announced June 17 its Interplanetary Sciences Program, which it described in a statement as “an initiative to enable radically more science per dollar by building the next generation of interplanetary capabilities that make scientific discovery more capable and accessible.”
The program will support science missions that will also “develop and fly foundational technologies and payloads” to support research goals, the company stated, working in partnership with industry, academia, philanthropic organizations and NASA.
The first of those missions is a Mars science and telecommunications orbiter mission planned for late 2028. The payload will