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 The U.S. space agency needs to keep in touch with its rovers,
landers and orbiters that have been chipping away at studies and
experiments to learn if the planet most like Earth in the solar
system ever supported life.
The robotic probes, however, are useless if they cannot relay their
results, and the two communication satellites currently in orbit are
getting old. The Mars Odyssey spacecraft was launched in 2001. Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter followed in 2005.
The aging of NASA’s Mars communications system comes as the United
States, Europe, Russia and India mount a fresh wave of science
campaigns, including two atmospheric probes slated to arrive at Mars
in September and two life-hunting rovers due to launch in 2018 and
2020.
 “There is a potential communications gap in the 2020s,” NASA wrote
in its solicitation, which was posted on the agency’s procurement
website.
“With that in mind, NASA is interested in exploring alternative
models to sustain and evolve the Mars relay infrastructure,” the
solicitation said.
A commercially operated communications service could be less
expensive and more capable than what NASA could build and operate on
its own, while providing “appropriate return-on-investment,” to the
service provider, NASA Mars exploration program executive Lisa May
said in a statement.
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For now, NASA is just seeking ideas, with no firm plans or funding
to purchase commercial communication services on Mars. Proposals are
due by Aug. 25.
The solicitation is open to all organizations, including U.S.
industry, universities, nonprofit groups, NASA and other government
centers, as well as international organizations.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Ken Wills)
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