Eric Schmidt flies to Long Beach the week Relativity Space pushes toward first Terran R launch

Eric Schmidt flew from Van Nuys to Long Beach on June 17, touching down at KLGB just after 3 a.m. in his Gulfstream G650ER, tail N652WE. The 22-minute hop across Los Angeles is the kind of quick trip that signals a routine visit rather than a cross-country relocation.

The same week Schmidt arrived in Long Beach, Relativity Space—where he serves as chief executive after taking a controlling stake and replacing co-founder Tim Ellis in March 2025—continues final assembly of its Terran R rocket at its headquarters near the airport. The company's April 2026 update described work on flight parts, second-stage integration, and launch site activation at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 16, with a first flight targeted for late 2026, per the Los Angeles Business Journal. Schmidt has linked the company's future to orbital data centers, an idea that gained credibility after Reuters reported Google's Project Suncatcher discussions with SpaceX in May.

Schmidt's travel pattern shows a heavy bias toward California hubs and New York-area airports, consistent with his dual roles as Relativity's CEO and a venture investor. This short hop follows a June 16 arrival from Teterboro to Van Nuys, suggesting a brief East Coast trip before returning to the company's home base.