The space sector has a new middle -aged billionaire at the head of a rocket manufacturer. Eric Schmidt, known for directed Google For a decade, the majority control of Relatity Space has been done to compete with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Context. The Californian company Relativity Space broke into the American pitchers in 2015 with an innovative approach: it specialized in the manufacture of rockets by 3D printing. The Terran 1, his first design, was the first rocket 85% printed on 3D that took off successfully. However, he failed in the attempt to reach the Earth’s orbit.
Difficulties. After that bittersweet inaugural launch, Relativity Space buried Terran 1 and focused on developing the terran ra larger reusable rocket designed to compete with the Falcon 9 of Spacex. Despite the 3,000 million dollars insured in launch contracts, financial difficulties made fear for the future of the rocket and the company, but an unexpected actor has appeared from nowhere to save it.
Eric Schmidt has returned. The manager’s veteran has surprised the technological and aerospace world at the same time with the majority control of Relativity Space. Schmidt announced its new position as CEOposition he had not held since he left Google in 2011.
He had money to make the strong investment that gives him control of the company. He had the political connections in Washington to sneak into the launch business. What we did not know was that I was interested in personally directing a company to compete with Spacex, Ula and Blue Origin.
A for military contracts. As Spacex knows (who fought judicially Until the end of the Boeing and Lockheed Martin duopoly), government and defense contracts are the most profitable in the space sector. And it is a part of the business that Schmidt is especially interested.
In recent years, the former Google CEO had become One of the most notable defenders of the military use of AI, which considers crucial to maintain the strategic advantage of the United States. Schmidt has presided over the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence and has invested in startups of the centered on security and defense applications. Maybe I have seen Some parallelism between the arms race and the space race.
A turning point for Relativity Space. Eric Schmidt’s entry (and his capital) to Relativity Space represents A turning point For the company, which can now materialize more confidently a rocket in which I had not stopped working.
Terran R combines traditional assembly techniques with 3D printing. Its Aeon R Hunors have Past for all kinds of tests and have managed to turn on more than 2,500 seconds. Relativity Space aspires to launch the rocket in late 2026. Despite the changes, its founder (and so far CEO) Tim Ellis maintains the initial objective: consolidate a base on Mars. The inspiration is clear.
Images | Guillaume Paumier (CC By 3.0), Relativity Space
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