WASHINGTON — The former chief executive of Google is taking a stake in, and becoming chief executive of, Relativity Space as that launch vehicle company notes progress on its Terran R rocket.
A company spokesperson confirmed March 10 that Eric Schmidt is the new chief executive of Relativity, a move that was announced internally earlier in the day at the company. The New York Times was the first to report the news.
Schmidt is a longtime technology industry executive who was chief executive of Google from 2001 to 2011 and executive chairman of Google and its parent company, Alphabet, from 2011 to 2017. He also was chairman of the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Advisory Board from 2016 to 2020.
Schmidt, with an estimated net worth of $34 billion according to Bloomberg, had shown an interest in Relativity in the last year, according to industry sources. He is reportedly making a significant investment in the company as part of becoming chief executive, but the company did not disclose any investment by him.
He is replacing Tim Ellis, a co-founder of Relativity Space who had been chief executive from the company’s start. Ellis is remaining on the board, according to sources.
Relativity entered the launch market with plans to rely almost entirely on additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, to manufacture its launch vehicles, a move it said would eliminate the need for traditional manufacturing infrastructure and provide flexibility. The company tapped into venture capital markets for funding, including a $650 million Series D round in June 2021 that valued the company at $4.2 billion.
The company started with the small Terran 1 rocket but, in that Series D, announced plans for the larger, fully reusable Falcon 9-class Terran R. Relativity launched the Terran 1 once, in March 2023, failing to reach orbit. The following month, the company said it was retiring the Terran 1 to focus on a redesigned Terran R that would make its first flight in 2026. The company had said little about work on the rocket since then amid reports the company was struggling to raise additional funding.
Relativity separately announced March 10 an update on work on Terran R. It said it had completed a critical design review of the vehicle in December and started production of some flight hardware, such as panels for the first stage and second-stage barrels.
The company has also been working on the Aeon R engine that will power the rocket. It said it is testing a “flight-intent” version of the engine, running it for more than 2,500 seconds in tests that include flight-like software and a printed sea-level nozzle. The company is producing hardware for the version of the engine that will be used for qualification testing.
“We have all the elements to make Terran R a commercially competitive launch vehicle,” Mo Shahzad, president and chief financial officer, said in a statement about the development. That included, he said, technical development as well as a “strong financial footing” and a backlog of $2.9 billion in orders. “We recognize there is still plenty of work ahead, but the phenomenal progress across the program gives me great confidence in our ability to deliver Terran R to market for our customers.”
“It’s really designed to hit that sweet spot in the market for LEO constellations and offer the best economics of any launch vehicle in operation,” said Josh Brost, chief revenue officer of Relativity, of the Terran R during a session of the Satellite 2025 conference here before the news of Schmidt’s hiring.
The $2.9 billion backlog Relativity has for Terran R, he said, “shows how desperate the market is for another cost-effective launch services provider” given the dominant position SpaceX has in the market today. “Customers are voting with their checkbooks to validate that.”
Relativity said it is planning a first launch of Terran R as soon as late 2026 from its launch complex at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
