NASA seeks commercial contractor to build new Mars communications network
Gettyimages.com/piranka
By
Nick Wakeman
Only companies that worked on the Mars Sample Return program need apply, narrowing the field to a handful of space industry heavyweights.
NASA is looking for ways to improve the communications network that connects the Earth to Mars.
Improvements are needed to handle the growth in satellites, rovers and other equipment on Mars in order to prepare for human exploration. The current satellites orbiting Mars are aging and well past their design life.
The agency released a draft solicitation Tuesday for the Mars Telecommunications Network on April 7 with comments due April 13.
NASA will use the contract to build and operate a Mars relay satellite. Funding will come from the Working Families Tax Cut Act signed in July.
Goals include a launch by the end of 2028 and fully operational system by the end of 2030. The winning contactor will manage the systems through 2035.
NASA is structuring the contract as a firm-fixed-price award, which shifts much of the risk to the contractor. The agency expects to release the final solicitation by May 1.
The agency is limiting who can bid on to companies that have worked on the design phase of the Mars sample return mission, a mission to collect rock and soil samples on Mars and return them to Earth for analysis. They also had to propose a separate Mars telecom satellite.
This narrows the field down to just a handful of potential bidders:
- Blue Origin
- Lockheed Martin
- Northrop Grumman
- Rocket Lab
- SpaceX