Eric Schmidt named CEO of a rocket startup. It could put him in competition with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

• Eric Schmidt just became the CEO of Relativity Space.
• The startup aims to build reusable rockets and an industrial base on Mars.
• Some of the company’s ambitions parallel those of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.

Another billionaire has entered the rocket race.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has provided “substantial financial backing” and has become the CEO of rocket startup Relativity Space, its outgoing leader Tim Ellis said Monday.

The company, which was the first to send 3D printed rockets into space, is building reusable flight hardware and has a long-term goal of building an industrial base on Mars.

Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 until 2011 and was Alphabet’s executive chairman until 2017, joins as the company aims to launch its Terran R launch vehicle in the next couple of years. The company said in a YouTube video posted Monday the vehicle is now in the design process. It launched its Terran 1 rocket in 2023, but it failed to reach orbit.

Relativity Space declined to comment further when reached by Business Insider.

“I know there’s no one more tenacious or passionate to propel this dream forward,” Ellis, also the cofounder of the company, said in an X post on Monday, adding that he’ll transition to the company’s board.

Some of the company’s eventual ambitions run parallel to those of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.

Under Schmidt’s leadership, Relativity Space’s rockets could compete with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy and Blue Origin’s New Glenn and New Shepherd rockets, as Relativity Space aims to create reusable rockets.

The company, which was founded about a decade ago, is also known for using 3D printing to produce its rockets. In 2023, Relativity Space made history by sending the first rocket that was mostly 3D printed into space, though it did not reach orbit. The company has since expanded its focus beyond 3D printing and is also incorporating more traditional methods to produce its rockets.

Relativity Space was valued at more than $4 billion in 2021, with investors that included BlackRock, Fidelity, and Mark Cuban.