Private Space Venture Now Targeting 2026 for Unprecedented Mars Landing

The two companies are not only hoping to become the first commercial venture to land on Mars, they also want to launch regular missions to the Red Planet to create a “constant supply chain to Mars,” Josh Brost, senior vice president of revenue operations at Relativity Space, is quoted as saying in SpaceNews. The launch window from Earth to Mars opens up every 26 months, and the two companies want to send “at least one mission up” for every launch window, SpaceNews reported according to Barry Matsumori, chief operating officer of Impulse Space.

“By making transport to Mars more affordable, you open up that iteration loop that can lead to advancements that just could not have been envisioned previously,” Brost added.

Private space companies are starting to aim big. California-based company Rocket Lab wants to launch the first commercial mission to Venus and explore the planet’s clouds for potential habitability. But as the Tokyo-based ispace’s failure to become the first private company to land on the Moon demonstrated, space can be, like, really hard. And perhaps commercial space ventures still need some more experience before they stick the landing.

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