Public sector

Every buzzword deployed in quest to transform into ‘country that is equipped for an AI world’

The UK Cabinet Office is looking for an AI and Innovation Director who can develop civil servants’ use of artificial intelligence and change the way the civil service works.

The task of persuading public sector workers to love AI involves “re-imagining the future workforce and business model” for the UK’s civil service, promoting adoption of AI tools, “championing, coordinating, and tracking AI adoption” across government departments, and instilling an “AI-first culture,” according to the job advert.

As that list implies, the individual will need to be “a natural influencer” with a “deep understanding of the AI landscape,” both traditional and generative, ideally with experience of building AI services.

“My ambition is for the civil service to be a global leader in AI government transformation, to enable a more productive civil service that achieves world-class outcomes for citizens and a country that is equipped for an AI world,” writes Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo in an information pack published with the job ad. “We are seeking an exceptional individual who is an experienced strategic leader, can deliver under pressure, and will help shape the direction of the civil service at a pivotal time.”

The exceptional individual in question will need to be content to serve King and country for a relatively modest £100,000 to £163,000 a year, albeit with generous pension contributions, compared with some private sector equivalents. They will have to agree to an expected assignment period of at least three years, although this is not contractual, and be British, a national of most European countries, or any Commonwealth country. The right to work in the UK is another requirement.

Reg readers who fit the bill can apply by submitting a CV and a 1,000-word statement about why they are suitable by five minutes to midnight on Monday, July 13. While candidates can use AI in applying, “all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and taken directly from your own experience,” so perhaps championing AI adoption should wait until after getting the job given the technology’s propensity to make things up. ®

Parafin, an embedded financial infrastructure company on the 2026 Forbes Fintech 50 list, has secured a new credit facility led by Goldman Sachs alongside One William Street Capital Management. The facility will expand access to embedded lending for small businesses through platforms including Amazon, DoorDash, Gusto, TikTok Shop, and Walmart.

The company’s model is straightforward. Instead of applying to a bank, a small business selling on Amazon or delivering through DoorDash gets financing offers built into the platform it already uses. The capital helps with cash flow, growth investment, and day-to-day operations. Parafin handles the underwriting, servicing, compliance, and customer support behind the scenes.

The numbers show the model works. Parafin has funded more than 50,000 businesses to date and extended over $35 billion in offers across the US and Canada. The majority of fundings go to repeat borrowers, a signal that the product solves a recurring need rather than a one-time problem.

“Small businesses increasingly expect financial products to be built into the software and platforms they already use to run their businesses,” said CEO Sahill Poddar. “Embedded lending is becoming a critical part of how businesses access capital.”

The Goldman Sachs facility builds on a recent warehouse credit expansion with Silicon Valley Bank, EverBank, and Trinity Capital. The additional capacity supports financing products that help businesses manage cash flow and invest in growth. Parafin was founded in 2020 by Poddar, Vineet Goel, and Ralph Furman, and is backed by Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, GIC, Notable Capital, and Redpoint Ventures.

The deal reflects a broader shift in how small businesses access capital. Traditional bank lending requires separate applications, credit checks, and weeks of processing. Embedded lending companies like Capchase have shown that financing built into existing workflows converts better and retains borrowers longer. Parafin applies the same logic at the small business level, where the platform is not Salesforce but Amazon or DoorDash.

The repeat borrower rate is the metric that matters most. It means the product is not just accessible but useful enough that businesses return. For Goldman Sachs, the credit facility is a way to deploy capital into a lending channel that traditional bank branches cannot reach. For the fintech infrastructure market, Parafin’s growth confirms that the platforms where businesses already operate are becoming the default distribution channel for financial products.

When a water-treatment plant outside Denver discovered an algae problem in its pipes, it did not call an engineering firm. It called the students.

The aquatic robotics team at the Innovation Center at St. Vrain Valley Schools in Longmont, Colorado, sent underwater robots into the facility, collected data, identified the algae species and helped eradicate it. The plant now contracts with the student team for quarterly checkups. Neighboring towns have started calling, too.

This is not a simulation or a classroom exercise conjured up to look like real work. It is real work, and it reflects a broader shift underway in districts. Increasingly, schools are building career learning pathways that connect students directly with professional challenges, industry mentors and, in some cases, a paycheck.

The Case for Real Work

The urgency behind these efforts is hard to ignore. A 2023 review from the American Institutes for Research, drawing on two decades of studies, found that career and technical education participation has statistically significant positive impacts on academic achievement, high school completion, employability skills and college readiness.

The question districts are now wrestling with is not whether to offer career pathways, but whether those pathways lead anywhere real.

Policy leaders are paying attention. The Education Commission of the States has identified building aligned career pathways and removing barriers to economic opportunity as one of its top priorities through 2027.

At St. Vrain, Assistant Superintendent of Innovation Joe McBreen has spent years trying to answer that question through a program known as project teams.

After school each day, roughly 264 students log in at the district’s Innovation Center and begin work as paid district employees, billing hours against accounts for actual clients. Students can join a drone show team, a cybersecurity unit, an AI development group or a dozen other teams, rotating among them as their interests evolve.

“It’s low threat, high reward,” says McBreen. “Students get paid, grow their network, develop soft skills and test drive careers. And if they get into a team and realize it’s not for them, there’s real value in that, too.”

The model relies heavily on industry mentors who bring in real work rather than invented classroom projects. Damon Brown, a senior cybersecurity adviser for the U.S. Department of State focused on Ecuador, mentored seven St. Vrain students on a complex assignment.

He asked them to design the architecture for a cyber intelligence fusion center using open-source tools — work that could have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if contracted from a professional firm.

“The students knocked it out of the park,” says Brown.

They built the system architecture, wrote user manuals, recommended equipment and conducted a threat analysis of countries surrounding Ecuador. Brown was so impressed he is now hiring six St. Vrain interns.

“This experience binds people together,” he says.

The program also has a way of growing in unexpected directions. After one student’s grandparent was victimized by a cybercrime, the cybersecurity team created an awareness curriculum for senior citizens. They taught five classes to 24 senior citizens in the first year; the second session was standing room only. Senior facilities now pay the students to come in and teach.

Meanwhile, the drone team flies commercial shows for companies across the country on Friday afternoons, billing clients at rates few drone pilots in the country can match. One former member is now studying aerospace engineering and using money from drone flying to help pay for college.

Taking the Model Out West

St. Vrain’s work has drawn attention from educators around the country, some of whom are adapting pieces of the model to fit their own communities.

Kris Hagel, chief information officer of Peninsula School District in Washington state, visited the Innovation Center and came away convinced he could build something similar.

Two years ago, Peninsula launched a paid drone internship program, starting with seven students and gradually expanding. Students work alongside industry partners while learning how to navigate FAA regulations, program autonomous flight paths and repair drones.

“When you’re willing to look at what’s cutting edge and think innovatively without being constrained by traditional systems, you can create opportunities for kids that transcend what we think of as traditional education,” says Hagel. “This program has become so much more than I thought was possible.”

The district partnered with Firefly Drone Systems, one of the few American drone manufacturers, to train students and help them operate drone shows.

The program also includes multiple roles beyond piloting, including marketing, animation design and equipment maintenance. Hagel envisions a future where students studying business management hire other students to operate the program.

A skilled drone operator who leaves high school with the capital to purchase equipment can enter a six-figure career almost immediately, says Hagel.

Finding the Problem First

Not every district is building toward robotics contracts or drone shows. For Michele Davis, CTE department chair at Metropolitan School District of Steuben County in Indiana, the real-world pathway is entrepreneurship.

Working with the StartED Up Foundation, Davis guides students through a three-year sequence: identifying an actual problem, developing a solution, building out the business model and presenting it to real audiences.

Students take “opportunity walks” around the school, documenting everyday frustrations and brainstorming solutions. They learn how to market their ideas professionally by practicing elevator pitches, presenting case studies to various audiences and explaining their ideas to elementary school students.

“Opportunities are everywhere,” says Davis.

The ideas that emerge can be surprisingly practical. One student designed a reversible outfit to solve a quick-change problem in theater productions. Another class developed a mobile trailer concept that could help unhoused people access hygiene services.

Beyond the business concepts themselves, Davis says the program focuses heavily on communication skills and confidence. “We get students comfortable doing things that are normally uncomfortable,” she says.

A Credential, Not Just a Class

At Suffern Central School District in Rockland County, New York, Superintendent P. Erik Gundersen has taken yet another approach.

Through a partnership with the League of Innovative Schools and curriculum provider Paradigm, the district launched a three-year cybersecurity certification pathway embedded directly into the high school. About 60 students are currently enrolled.

The program was designed to reach students who might not otherwise see themselves in a cybersecurity career. The district actively recruited students from immigrant communities and others who are new to the U.S.

Students work in a “sandbox” environment that simulates real cyber incidents, allowing them to practice identifying threats and responding to attacks.

“The means to send a kid to college is not as great as it was, and a lot of what we’re reading questions the importance of a college education,” says Gundersen.

Those economic realities, he says, are pushing districts to rethink how they prepare students for the workforce.

Career credentials embedded with traditional high schools can open doors for students who may not otherwise have clear pathways into high-skill industries.

Education That Looks Like Life

Across these programs, the details vary widely, but the philosophy is the same: Authentic experience is not a supplement to education. It is education.

As McBreen says, “I encourage districts to expand their vision. Anyone can do this. Start small.”

The company pretty much invented the hardware superstore when it began in 1978, just by being so big. They inflated the neighborhood tool shop into a whole city of lumber, hammers, caulk, power saws, and big rolls of wire. I would know I’m in a Home Depot blindfolded, because of a distinct quality to the air—crisp and particulate, smelling like wood dust and paint and the oiled metal of power tools. The Home Depot smell is buried deep in my childhood, filed somewhere between “building a deck” and “first day of spring.” Anyway, the Home Depot website is just as big. And while it doesn’t smell like sawdust, it’s easier to find stuff. Our roundup includes Home Depot promo codes from 20% to $100 off, new customer coupons, free shipping offers, and Pro discounts to drop prices by as much as 50% when you buy online.

Unlock Home Depot Promo Codes for 10% Off or $5 Off With Sign up

If you register for Home Depot’s Style and Decor newsletter, you get a special code for 10% off on furniture and home accents. Otherwise, you can sign up for the Home Depot coupon newsletter or text alerts to get an immediate $5 off the next in-store purchase of $50 or more. Another easy way to save sitewide at Home Depot is to set up a subscription for your go to products and automatically get 5% off and free delivery on your order.

Join the Home Depot Text Program for $5 Off

If you already shop a lot at Home Depot and are looking for other ways to save, signing up for The Home Depot’s Promo Text Program is a good idea. You’ll receive text messages with special promotions, offers, how-to guides for projects, and great design ideas. Plus, you’ll get $5 off your next purchase when you sign up.

Save Up to 50% With These Home Depot Coupon Codes and Discounts

Home Depot deals are in full swing with huge discounts on a myriad of gifts and home project-related items, like 10% off flooring for Pro members with promo code SAMPLESAVE10, or 20% off Electrolux handheld electronics with code ELECTROLUX20, like the ever-popular Electrolux handheld garment steamer. There are also offers for free tools with battery kit purchases, and buy one get one free deals from top names like Milwaukee, DEWALT, and RYOBI.

Power tools and hand tools are discounted up to 50% this season, as well as extremely handy lawn and outdoor power equipment that can help with shoveling and general pesky snow removal and home upkeep.

Home Depot Online Coupons: Up to 30% Off Air Conditioners

Summer’s here and that means rising temperatures, longer days, and higher heat index. Don’t be caught in the next heat wave without being prepared. With this Home Depot coupon, you can get up to 30% off air conditioners, plus everything else you need to stay cool like fans, smart thermostats, and more. This means saving hundreds on potentially lifesaving (and house-cooling) devices from top air conditioning brands like Midea, Windmill, LG, GE, Frigidaire, and more.

Up to 15% Off Grills at Home Depot

The best grills now offer a fair amount of tech to measure and control temperature (think: temperature probes and fans to modulate airflow). The WIRED Reviews team has been testing grills for more than a decade—searing, smoking, grilling, and even baking on them in all kinds of weather—to find the best choice for everyone. And Home Depot has a wide selection of grills for up to 15% off online right now. Get ready for outdoor summer grilling for less with Home Depot’s discounted grills—there’s something for every type of home chef, including gas, charcoal, pellet, portable, and kamado grills, plus smokers.

Shop Top Home Depot Sale Deals for up to $1,400 Off Appliances, Bath Items, and Tools

And as it turns out, the hardware giant also goes hard on discounts, slashing grills and garden and outdoor power tools by up to 50%, not to mention smokers like the new Traieger Woodridge (8/10, WIRED Recommends) also sold at Home Depot.

But that’s not all; Home Depot is covering the whole house! There are appliance deals of up to $1,400 off appliances, $1,000 off washer and dryer sets, and bathroom deals of up to 40% off vanities, 25% off bathtubs, 20% off on toilets, and 15% off showers.

Plus, Home Depot has appliance bundle deals where you can get major discounts when you purchase multiple appliances at once.

Get 40% Off With Home Depot Deal of the Day Coupons

Home Depot coupons of the moment include whopper deals like 15% off storage solutions, and 35% off washers and dryers. Explore more deals on kitchen and other furniture too, by checking out the deals of the moment here. Like we’ve stated, there are so many ways to save at Home Depot, even when you’re shopping online. Special Buy of the Days include steep price drops on certain products or entire brands—but the significant price drops only last for 24 hours. That’s a whole lot of savings for one of the most expensive home renovations you can do. Another saving hack? Ensure you jump on products marked with “New Lower Price” to find them at their lowest price yet.

Winter is a great time to stay inside and focus on home improvement projects. Home Depot has everything you need for remodels (including bulk buys). Right now, vinyl plank and tile flooring is up to 30% off, with options starting at 99 cents per square foot. Plus, power tool kit combos to save even more, with bundle deals of up to 70% off—including Deals of the day flash sales on tools, and appliances with rebates of up to $1,000. Deals include smart home items WIRED has covered extensively, like Nest learning thermostats (9/10, WIRED Recommends). Need advice on setting up a smart home? WIRED has your back. Not only do Deals of the Days (and over 1 million products) qualify for free shipping, but you can also get free delivery to your local Home Depot store or straight to your door with online orders over $45.

Save 20% With Home Depot Pro Xtra Discounts

Home Depot also offers a loyalty program called Pro Xtra for frequent flyers, whether you’re a contractor or just undergoing a serious remodel this year. This means exclusive prices up to 20% off, 10% discounts on bulk buys, a rewards point system, and occasional $50 off $250 coupons too. Painting the house? The program also nets you 10 to 20% off paint and primers. Pro Xtra offers multiple tiers, from basic membership to Elite and VIP.

Special Buys of the Week are bargains that are worth checking out, and pros can get discounts with the Pro Special Buy of the Week—and that’s on top of exclusive coupons, bulk product discounts up to 20% off, and everyday discounted pricing on items. Hot offers this week include: free tools or batteries with your purchase of tools from Milwaukee, RYOBI, and more premium brands, plus 20% off flooring. Also grab 40% off bathroom products like Kohler showers, tubs, vanities, faucets, tubs, and toilets, including luxury upgrades like Horow smart toilets and bidets.

Get 10% Off With the Home Depot Military Discount

Home Depot has long maintained a program offering discounts to active service members, veterans, and their spouses, offering 10% off all eligible purchases. You’ll need to register to verify your military status through SheerID, and from then on you can just scan your virtual ID or enter your phone number at checkout, same way you do at the grocery store. Note that military discounts are limited to $400 each calendar year, and this resets each year. Some commodity products are excluded, including lumber, wire, and building materials. Appliances are also out in the cold, but military families may still find special deals or tax-free shopping through Home Depot’s Military Exchange Program.

Get $100 Off With Home Depot Coupon Codes for Credit Cardholders

If you haven’t opened a credit card at Home Depot, now is a great time. If you have a new account, when you place your first order using your credit card, you can save up to $100 dollars (on qualifying purchases).

Plus, you can also get up to 24 months financing on special order and installed blinds, shades and shutter purchases with Home Depot promo code YU8QTSVQ3. You can also get up to 24 months financing on installed custom closet purchases with Home Depot coupon code 7MD4H2YQ2.

Give More With Home Depot Gift Cards

Not sure what to get for your dad, the grad, or the newlyweds in your life? That’s where Home Depot gift cards come in. Home Depot gift cards are the perfect present for the person in your life who’s always starting a new DIY project, or new homeowners who can use all the help they can get. It’s a great way to say ‘thank you’ or ‘congrats,’ and the giftee can choose what they want to invest in, so you can ensure it’s their perfect present. Plus, Home Depot gift cards come in both physical, plastic cards and eGift Card options, with a variety of designs available for even more gift personalization. You can redeem a Home Depot gift card in-store or online, and the gift card value never expires.

Midjourney, known for its AI program that can generate images from text prompts, has announced its new project: A medical machine that can scan your whole body in just 60 seconds. It’s so far removed from what Midjourney is known for that we had to check the date and make sure it wasn’t April 1st. Well, it’s not April Fools: The Midjourney Scanner is real, and the company is even building spas where you can find the machines and get scanned. 

In its announcement, Midjourney admitted that the project is not related to anything we’ve seen from the company so far. However, it’s at the point where it’s asking itself “How do we want to be different?” and “What do we want to become?” Its answer to those questions, apparently, is to launch Midjourney Medical, with the Scanner being its first hardware product. “We’ve dreamed of something as powerful as MRI, and as casual as a trip to the spa, and we’re unveiling a path to that – today,” it wrote in its blog post. 

After you step on a platform, Midjourney’s scanner will submerge you in water at a rate of 2 inches per second. Your body passes through a ring made of half a million squares the size of a grain of sand, with each one of them capable of emitting ultrasonic waves and of recording the ripples that bounce off your body and back to it. 

The company compares them to dolphins that use echolocation, so going through a scan is like being surrounded by half a million tiny dolphins from every angle. It says the result of the scan is a “3D map of your body, down to a fraction of a millimeter, that looks a lot like today’s MRIs but at nearly a hundred times the speed.” Midjourney’s goal is for the scan to take less than 60 seconds, a tiny fraction of the 60 to 90 minutes it typically takes to do a full-body MRI.

As Crypto Briefing notes, the company is developing the machine with handheld ultrasound device maker Butterfly Network. Midjourney signed a licensing agreement with Butterfly Network in November 2025, securing exclusive rights to its ultrasound-on-chip technology. The project is led by Ahmad Abbas, Midjourney’s head of consumer hardware projects, who joined the company in late 2023 after working on the Vision Pro at Apple.

Over the next 12 months, Midjourney will be fine-tuning its algorithms and the Scanner, doing research trials and working on a second-generation hardware design. It plans to open its first Spa housing Scanners in San Francisco sometime next year. The next step is to get the machine’s diagnostic capabilities approved by the FDA. In 2028, Midjourney hopes to expand to more cities and launch its third-generation machine that will use custom silicon to enable much better image quality. It says that’s when things will get “serious,” perhaps in relation to how the Scanner can compete with standard MRIs.

Midjourney’s ambition is to have 50,000 Scanners available worldwide by 2031. “We think it’s completely possible that with enough early imaging in the future, the world could avoid 30 percent of all deaths and 50 percent of all healthcare costs,” the company said. 

Microsoft has unveiled the latest edition of the Surface Laptop. While the new Snapdragon-powered machine brings some notable upgrades, it’s the combination of a claimed 20-hour battery life and a $1599 starting price that’s likely to get people talking.

The new laptop arrives in 13.8-inch and 15-inch variants, both featuring touchscreen displays and powered by Microsoft’s latest Snapdragon X2 processors. There’s also a new Surface Pro.

Moreover, according to Microsoft, the new chip delivers up to 58% more graphics performance than the Snapdragon X Elite found in the previous-generation Surface Laptop 7.

Battery life is the headline feature, particularly on the 13.8-inch model. Microsoft claims it can last for up to 20 hours on a single charge.

This is a figure that, on paper at least, puts it ahead of some of the best laptops. If that translates into real-world use, it could make the Surface Laptop 8 one of the most compelling Windows alternatives. This may appeal to users who prioritise endurance over everything else.

devops

Got big binaries? Tired of other version control systems that treat them like inferior files? Lore might be worth a look

Fortnite maker and Apple nemesis Epic Games has decided to git good all on its own with the open-source release of its homemade version control system, dubbed Lore.

The project began life as Unreal Revision Control, and was used by internal teams and as the version control system (VCS) built into Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Now, Epic is ready to share its handiwork with the world. 

Lore is a centralized, content-addressed VCS that’s meant to be more flexible for developers, as it’s licensed under the less restrictive MIT License instead of the copyleft requirements inherent in the GNU standard. MIT is generally considered more permissive because, unlike GNU, it doesn’t require derivatives to be licensed in the same way (e.g., a fork of Lore could be proprietary). 

Lore can be installed on macOS, Windows, and Linux and its server side is designed to be transportable into different cloud services as well. The biggest difference between Lore and other VCS is its equal treatment of text files – e.g., code – and binaries. 

“All content is treated as opaque byte streams on the hot path,” Epic explains in its system design explanation document. “Text-aware features are layered on top, never assumed by the storage or transport paths. Binary content gets the same first-class treatment as text.”

With that in mind, it’s obvious who Epic is targeting with the release: Game developers. 

Lore is purpose-built for projects that use large binary files such as games, Epic said, but that doesn’t preclude other use cases with heavy binary loads, like AI model builders, systems developers, and others who work with large amounts of machine-readable data alongside their own code.

We have lots of VCS data, so why do we need Lore?

There are plenty of VCS options out there: Git, Perforce, Mercurial (and its descendent Sapling) are all mentioned by Epic as alternatives that resemble Lore in its design and use. So, why a new VCS? That’s easy, says the Fortnite studio: None of ‘em do it all. 

Git, says Epic, has great revision graphing, but treats binaries as “second class citizens” and lacks multi-tenant isolation that ensures users on the same infrastructure can’t access each others work. Perforce requires multiple server round trips to conduct standard operations, making it too slow. Mercurial and Sapling elegantly solve “the scale of source repositories” via their distributed architecture, but again treat text as king and everything else as second-class data. 

“The motivation is not that prior systems are bad,” Epic explained. “What Lore offers that the prior art does not is the union” of all those features, and some others too.

Key design goals Epic had in mind when designing Lore included the aforementioned binary-first design, a sparse-by-construction architecture that only downloads necessary fragments from the server to clients to ensure fewer round trips, the elimination of partially-applied revisions, in-between states are invisible to readers, and a full-surface API that allows Lore to work with a variety of programming languages. 

If you want to give Lore a spin Epic has published a thorough quickstart guide, and pre-built binaries are available, ironically enough, on GitHub. ®

Relativity Space—a rocket maker acquired by former Google executive chair Eric Schmidt last year after stumbling on the path to orbit—might just beat SpaceX to Mars.

On Tuesday, NASA said it hired the company to build a spacecraft to house a suite of scientific instruments, launch it into space, and fly it to Mars.

The structure of the contract is akin to the deals that NASA made with SpaceX to fly cargo to the International Space Station, or Firefly Aerospace to put a lander on the Moon. The government agency handles the science, while the private company provides low-cost infrastructure.

Aeolus, as the mission is dubbed, will contain four instruments to measure and image Mars from orbit, providing what NASA expects to be the first daily, global view of dust, winds, and temperature in its atmosphere. The agency said that data will make it safer for landers and, someday, astronauts, to visit the surface of the Red Planet.

“By pairing NASA’s world‑class instruments with commercial innovation and investment, we can deliver more science, more often, and reduce the time it takes to get essential data into the hands of researchers preparing for future human missions to Mars,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said in statement.

The mission is set to launch in 2028—a rapid pace that will require Relativity to design and build the spacecraft to carry the Aeolus instruments, and finish building the rocket that will carry it to space, all on a tight timeline. NASA did not disclose how much it is paying Relativity for the mission, and Relativity did not respond to questions from TechCrunch.

Isaacman, who has flown to space twice on private SpaceX missions, has championed public-private partnerships like this. Under this model, the company working with NASA takes on some of the development cost of the project, in exchange for allowing NASA to stretch its budget further—a structure that has become a template for how the agency funds ambitious missions without bearing all the financial risk itself.

But NASA is taking on risk as well: Relativity is unproven, and there’s no guarantee the mission will even make it off the ground. Past startup partners of NASA have gone bankrupt or seen Moon landers arrive askew. The potential payoff for the company is meant to extend beyond the NASA contract itself, including commercial applications, like launching satellites or delivering cargo to the Moon. Still, the further out into space these partnerships reach, the murkier the market becomes for commercial services.

Relativity was founded in 2015 by two former SpaceX and Blue Origin engineers, with the idea of using 3D printing to its maximum potential as a path to building a cheaper rocket. The company’s first design, Terran-1, launched in March 2023 and failed mid-flight. Relativity doubled down by moving on to a larger design, dubbed the Terran R.

Before Relativity could get it to the launch pad, the company ran into fundraising challenges, and Schmidt took a majority stake in the company in it last year, installing himself as CEO. He’s been tight-lipped about the investment but has expressed interest in orbital data centers, and is thought to be using Relativity to launch a space telescope, Lazuili, financed by his family philanthropy, Schmidt Sciences.

The former tech executive’s decision to take over a space company last year puzzled some observers because rocketry is a crowded and capital-intensive field. But pent up demand for new rockets—fueled by delays at Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin—could still lead to a payoff for Schmidt if Terran R can actually make it to space.

And the new contract might give Schmidt a chance to put one over on Elon Musk, a regular sparring partner of his on the issue of AI safety. While Musk has long talked of his Martian ambitions, SpaceX has never actually sent its own mission to Mars (no, the Tesla he launched into space in 2018 missed).

If Relativity’s Aeolus launches on schedule, it could be the first private mission to reach the Red Planet.