NASA has officially selected American aerospace company Relativity Space as a commercial partner for a 2028 Mars science mission, which will carry the Aeolus payload — a suite of scientific instruments designed to study the Martian atmosphere (wind, temperature, dust, and clouds). Relativity Space will provide the spacecraft, launch vehicle, and mission operations under a six-year Reimbursable Space Act Agreement. In 2023, Relativity's Terran 1 rocket became the first largely 3D-printed rocket to reach space, though it failed to achieve orbit due to a second-stage anomaly — still regarded as an industry milestone. The company has since shifted focus to developing the larger, reusable Terran R rocket, which will continue to leverage large-scale 3D printing. NASA’s vote of confidence marks a critical validation of additive manufacturing’s path to engineering readiness in the space sector.