NASA will provide the Aeolus atmospheric-science instrument payload suite for the Mars mission.
Relativity Space will supply the spacecraft, rocket, and cruise operations to deliver Aeolus to Mars.
NASA and Relativity Space have a public-private partnership to advance Mars atmospheric science with a planned Aeolus launch in 2028.
The Aeolus work is supported under NASA’s first six-year reimbursable Space Act Agreement.
Researchers at NASA Ames Research Center in California will design and build the four instruments in the Aeolus payload.
Relativity Space will maintain the Aeolus spacecraft during science operations.
Relativity Space will manage spacecraft development and mission operations for Aeolus.
Aeolus will support planning for future entry, descent, and landing systems by improving atmospheric models and reducing risk for crewed and uncrewed landings.
NASA will focus its Aeolus spending on scientific instruments and data processing rather than on developing a launch vehicle.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley will design, build, and integrate the Aeolus payload.
NASA plans to launch the Aeolus instrument suite in 2028.
The Aeolus payload includes four specialized sensors that will measure surface energy, dust thickness, cloud properties, wind speeds, and temperatures up to 60 kilometres above the Martian surface.
Aeolus’s Doppler lidar was the first spaceborne instrument capable of measuring global wind profiles from the lower atmosphere up to about 40 kilometers in altitude.
The European Space Agency performed a series of de-orbit maneuvers between 24 July 2023 and 28 July 2023 to lower Aeolus' orbit from 320 km to 120 km.
Aeolus was launched by the European Space Agency in 2018 and was not designed for a controlled reentry.
LeoLabs supported the Aeolus assisted reentry as a tracking partner and received ephemeris data from ESA Mission Control prior to and after each maneuver.
The European Space Agency performed orbital maneuvers between 24 and 28 July 2023 to lower Aeolus' orbit from 320 km to 120 km.
Aeolus was launched by the European Space Agency in 2018 and was not designed for a controlled reentry.
LeoLabs provided tracking of the European Space Agency's Aeolus satellite during its semi-controlled reentry in July 2023.
LeoLabs received ephemeris data from ESA Mission Control prior to and after each de-orbit maneuver for Aeolus.