Mars telecommunications relay services

[JulesVerneATV]

NASA just lost contact with a Mars orbiter, and will soon lose another one
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-just-lost-contact-with-a-mars-orbiter-and-will-soon-lose-another-one/

its MAVEN spacecraft, spacecraft designed to study the upper atmosphere of Mars and helps Landers/Rovers communicate

By: Stephen Clark – Dec 10, 2025 4:29 PM |

[TrevorMonty]

Can Escapade orbiters be used as relays?  If so NASA could place them in more favorable orbit to act as relays. Most likely mean their primary mission wouldn't happen.

[Jim]

Can Escapade orbiters be used as relays?  If so NASA could place them in more favorable orbit to act as relays. Most likely mean their primary mission wouldn't happen.

No, they don't have a UHF transceiver

[StraumliBlight]

SAM.gov: Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN) [Feb 24]

The purpose of this update, dated February 24, 2026, is to solely remove restricted access of the Attached: MTN-402-REQ-0001_MTN Objectives and Requirements – Preliminary.  No content changes were made as a result of this update.

[djellison]

SAM.gov: Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN) [Feb 24]

I think the link you're looking for is https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/8d62c4b2c0b74f3bb5ce0f8bbdda1bf6/view

Reading it - the requirements for data rate are a modest bump up from MRO's capabilities.

The DTE ( threshold of 1 Mbps,  goal of >7 Mbps ) is similar to MRO ( which is typically 0.5 - 5 Mbps )

UHF Prox data rates required are baselined similar to current Electra ( 2 Mbps ) with a goal of 8 Mbps.

It also states "SMD payload is not precluded, and schedule risk is critically important."  i.e. they're leaving language there for a hosted science payload.

For reference - https://descanso.jpl.nasa.gov/DPSummary/MRO_092106.pdf - is a superb deep dive into MRO capability.