Blue Origin selected for Mars telecom orbiter

NASA selected Blue Origin to develop its Mars Telecommunications Network, giving Jeff Bezos’ space company a role in building a dedicated communications relay around Mars, the agency said this week. The award covers a high-performance telecommunications spacecraft that will orbit Mars and support future science and exploration missions, according to NASA. (nasa.gov) Blue Origin said its vehicle for the job is the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, built on its Blue Ring platform. The company disclosed the selection in a Sept. 2 post on X, and NASA published a release the same day. ### What exactly did NASA select Blue Origin to build? NASA said the architecture will consist of a high-performance telecommunications spacecraft orbiting Mars. (blueorigin.com) The spacecraft is meant to transmit science data, imagery, navigation information and critical mission communications for spacecraft operating on and around the planet. The agency described the award as part of its plan to expand communications and navigation services beyond Earth and the Moon. NASA said the network is intended to support current and future Mars missions and to help establish infrastructure for sustained exploration of Mars in the coming decades. (nasa.gov) ### How is Blue Origin proposing to do it? Blue Origin said its Mars Telecommunications Orbiter is built on Blue Ring, the company’s in-space platform now in production. On its project page, Blue Origin said the orbiter is designed to provide a high-speed communications relay network for continuous coverage between Earth and Mars. (nasa.gov) Blue Origin said the spacecraft uses hybrid propulsion combining solar electric and chemical systems. The company also said the design could use multiple high-rate links and deployable UHF relay satellites, which it said would give the system flexibility for future Mars science and exploration needs. ### Why is NASA moving to a dedicated Mars network now? (nasa.gov) NASA said reliable, high-bandwidth communications are needed to relay science data, high-definition imagery and other critical information during Mars missions. In a separate agency background page published earlier this year, NASA said future surface, orbital and human exploration will require high-performance telecommunications orbiters at Mars. (blueorigin.com) NASA’s Mars program page says robotic missions such as Perseverance and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter already operate at the planet. The new network would add a purpose-built relay layer rather than relying only on existing mission spacecraft to handle communications support. That comparison is an inference from NASA’s description of a dedicated network and its current Mars fleet. (blueorigin.com) ### What does this say about Blue Origin’s space systems business? Blue Origin said Blue Ring can support missions from medium Earth orbit to cislunar space and beyond, with services including hosting, transportation, refueling, data relay and logistics. The Mars orbiter would extend that platform into a deep-space infrastructure role tied directly to NASA’s Mars plans. (nasa.gov) The company said Blue Ring can host payloads of more than 3,000 kilograms. On the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter page, Blue Origin said the same platform is intended to deliver communications infrastructure to Mars before human missions arrive. ### What happens next, and when? (nasa.gov) Blue Origin’s Mars Telecommunications Orbiter page says the spacecraft is intended to support NASA’s Mars telecommunications relay mission in 2028. NASA’s release announcing the selection did not, in the material reviewed, publish a contract value or a fuller milestone schedule. NASA’s next public updates are likely to come through the agency’s Mars program pages and mission releases, while Blue Origin has posted separate project and news pages describing the spacecraft and its Blue Ring platform. (blueorigin.com) (nasa.gov) (blueorigin.com 1) (blueorigin.com 2)