/sci/ - Science & Math

NASA considering commercial Mars data relay satellites
>In recent presentations to advisory committees, NASA officials have discussed the possibility of working with industry to place several satellites into orbit around Mars that would serve as relays for other missions, notably the proposed Mars Ice Mapper. Such satellites, they said, could greatly increase the amount of data missions can return to Earth and end reliance on aging science missions that also serve as data relays.
>“We intend to do this as a commercial contract that will be solicited and competed,” said Jim Watzin, former director of the Mars Exploration Program who is now a senior adviser supporting human Mars exploration planning at NASA Headquarters, at a Nov. 23 meeting a panel of the ongoing planetary science decadal survey. “This is an opportunity space that is an enabler for exploration.”
>Language in the report accompanying the Senate version of a fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill that funds NASA hinted at the agency’s interest in commercial communications at Mars. “The Committee is aware that NASA is investigating possible new models for using commercial services for future communications with Mars surface assets in the late 2020s and early 2030s, though no such services exist today,” the report stated.
https://spacenews.com/nasa-considering-commercial-mars-data-relay-satellites/