Google’s Eric Schmidt Steps in as Relativity Space CEO

See 3/10/25 update at the end of this article.

In November 2024, Bloomberg reported that Relativity Space, the Long Beach, California company leveraging additive manufacturing (AM) to produce rockets, was “running low on cash”, citing an anonymous source. Now, the financial news platform is reporting that Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google (now Alphabet Inc.), “has made a significant investment” in Relativity, although the exact size of the investment is unspecified.

Through a representative, Schmidt declined to comment on the investment to Bloomberg. Relativity released a statement that didn’t address Schmidt directly, merely commenting, “We continue to align ourselves with strong capital partners who believe in our mission and are supporting our ambitious programs.”

After Relativity Space launched the Terran 1 in March 2023, the company began work on the Terran R, targeting a 2026 launch date. While the Terran 1 failed to reach orbit, as I noted in my November post about the first Bloomberg article, “…even without reaching orbit, launching and reaching space on the initial flight is a major accomplishment, especially given that Relativity used [AM] for about 85 percent of the finished product.”

Schmidt’s attachment to Relativity Space is exactly the sort of development that could help the company regain its momentum. That would be the case especially if the former CEO’s investment leads Relativity to land additional money from America’s Frontier Fund (AFF), a “nonprofit deep tech fund” founded in 2021. The AFF self-describes its unique mission as an effort “to build the capacity needed for America to endure as the world’s best place for innovators to reach for new frontiers”.

In addition to Schmidt, AFF’s backers also include Peter Thiel, so-called “don of the PayPal Mafia”, and IBM’s former CEO and chairman Sam Palmisano. The CEO of AFF is Gilman Louie, who once headed CIA VC fund In-Q-Tel, while the board includes national security heavy hitters like Trump 1.0 national security advisor HR McMaster, and one-time CIA official Joanne Isham. (McMaster is also a special advisor to Amaero International Limited, an Australian-US metal powders supplier that was just given a $23.5 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.)

According to a 2023 Bloomberg article, some of AFF’s earliest investments included Hydrosonics, a hydrogen energy startup, and Fab.AI, which bills itself as “the first LLM for advanced manufacturing”. That same article noted that Schmidt’s money doesn’t go toward AFF’s investments, themselves, but rather is devoted toward AFF’s “nonprofit think tank side”.

In any case, even if Schmidt’s backing never leads to AFF money for Relativity Space, the company could benefit from synergy with relevant startups in the AFF portfolio. Moreover, Schmidt’s supposed backing of Relativity is symptomatic of the same context within which an entity like AFF could emerge, a context defined by billionaires’ proactive tightening of their reins over global supply chains by inserting themselves into the US national security landscape.

If Elon Musk wasn’t the inventor of that strategy, he was certainly one of the first to perfect it in its contemporary form, and now serves as a deflector-of-attention away from all the many other (usually tech-oriented) oligarchs doing the same thing. Not to call any of these people evil, but, if this is how the US must be run, it would at least be nice to see some “lesser evil” version billionaires doing the same thing. Buffett, for instance, has been accumulating a historically large cash pile. Throwing a hefty chunk of it into US manufacturing would be about as Buffetesque a last act as I could think of.

Update 3/10/25

Roughly two months after his investment into the new space startup was announced, Eric Schmidt has taken over as CEO. In a LinkedIn post, co-founder and former CEO Tim Ellis wrote:

Today marks a bold new chapter for Relativity Space – read below:

Some dreams are so audacious they’re worth dedicating significant years of your life to.

Nine years ago, we scribbled Relativity’s wild vision on the back of a Starbucks receipt, never imagining how many incredible people would believe, join, invest in us, and work incredibly hard to build this company despite the risks. From first-ever 3D-printed rockets launched into space, to the next-generation reusable Terran R flight hardware now being built, it’s been awe-inspiring and profoundly humbling. Truly, thank you to everyone involved.

Today marks a powerful new chapter as Eric Schmidt becomes Relativity’s CEO, while also providing substantial financial backing. I know there’s no one more tenacious or passionate to propel this dream forward. We have been working together to ensure a smooth transition, and I’ll proudly continue to support the team as Co-founder and Board member.

I’m deeply grateful to be part of creating something that will continue to grow, evolve, and contribute to the future of humanity in space. Onwards!

In addition to taking over as CEO, Eric Schmidt has acquired a controlling stake in Relativity Space, according to The New York Times. His investment comes as the company has struggled to raise new funding, with sources indicating that Schmidt agreed to provide financial backing on the condition that he take over day-to-day operations. While Relativity initially positioned itself as a leader in 3D-printed rockets, it has increasingly moved away from full additive manufacturing, incorporating more traditionally manufactured components—a shift that raises questions about its original cost-reduction strategy. The company’s long-term ambition to establish an industrial base on Mars has also faced setbacks, with a previously planned 2024 private Mars mission failing to materialize. Therefore, the Relativity Space of tomorrow will likely look quite different from that of yesterday

Images courtesy of Relativity Space