WASHINGTON \u2014 NASA has provided new details about its plans to procure a Mars communications orbiter funded under last year\u2019s budget reconciliation bill as companies continue positioning themselves to bid on the project.<\/p>\n
NASA published draft objectives and requirements<\/a> Feb. 24 for what it is calling the Mars Telecommunications Network, formerly known as the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter.<\/p>\n The budget reconciliation act passed in July 2025 included $700 million for NASA to develop a spacecraft to provide \u201crobust, continuous communications\u201d for other assets on and orbiting Mars. The bill requires the spacecraft to be \u201cdelivered to the Administration\u201d no later than the end of 2028 but does not explicitly require a launch by that date.<\/p>\n NASA outlined four top-level objectives for the Mars Telecommunications Network: provide communications services for spacecraft expected to operate at Mars through 2035; provide positioning, navigation and timing, or PNT, services for those spacecraft; provide communications for existing Mars spacecraft; and provide communications and PNT services for missions demonstrating entry, descent and landing technologies at Mars through 2035.<\/p>\n The document includes more detailed proposed requirements, including operating for at least five years, supporting data rates of up to 100 megabits per second on direct links with Earth and maintaining compatibility with NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network. The draft does not require the use of optical communications links between the spacecraft and Earth, which can support higher data rates, but it also does not preclude their use.<\/p>\n The document makes clear the spacecraft will be dedicated to communications and navigation services. Some scientists had hoped NASA would incorporate one or more science instruments on the orbiter, but others noted the schedule and budget likely would not allow that.<\/p>\n NASA did not provide a procurement schedule for the Mars Telecommunications Network beyond stating that a draft request for proposals is forthcoming. Comments on the draft objectives and requirements are due March 10.<\/p>\n \u201cNASA anticipates that the Draft and Final Requests for Proposals will reflect the applicable provisions\u201d of the budget reconciliation bill, the agency said in the procurement notice. That includes limiting eligibility to companies that received NASA funding in fiscal years 2024 or 2025 for commercial design studies of alternative Mars Sample Return approaches and that proposed \u201ca separate, independently launched Mars telecommunication orbiter supporting an end-to-end Mars sample return mission.\u201d<\/p>\n NASA published a procurement notice in late January listing the companies it deemed eligible for the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, then withdrew it without explanation within a day. The listed companies were Blue Origin, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, Quantum Space and Whittinghill Aerospace, all the participants in the Mars Sample Return design studies.<\/p>\n Among the eight, Blue Origin and Rocket Lab have been the most vocal in pursuing the Mars Telecommunications Network, publicly stating their interest for months.<\/p>\n \u201cMTO offers an integrated solution combining our New Glenn launch vehicle and the Blue Ring Mars-capable spacecraft platform. Both have flight-proven heritage,\u201d Blue Origin said in a Feb. 11 post<\/a>. While New Glenn has launched twice, the company has yet to fly a full Blue Ring spacecraft, having tested only components in space.<\/p>\n