WASHINGTON – NASA has issued a final request for proposals for a Mars telecommunications system, confirming the requirements that limit the companies that can bid on it.
NASA released the final RFP for the Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN) on May 14, seeking proposals through June 15. NASA said it intended to bring the selected company under contract by October 1.
The MTN is designed to provide communications capabilities to other missions to Mars as existing orbiters also serve as data relays in addition to their primary science missions. MTN was funded by last year’s budget reconciliation act, which provided NASA with $700 million for the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter that will be ready by the end of 2028.
The bill also directed NASA to limit eligibility for the contract to companies that received funding for Mars sample return commercial design studies in fiscal years 2024 or 2025 and, as part of those studies, “proposed a separate, independently launched Mars Telecommunications Orbiter supporting an end-to-end Mars sample return mission.”
However, the cover letter to the draft RFP released April 2 states that the agency “will conduct this acquisition as a full and open competition,” with no explicit mention of Budget Reconciliation Act requirements. Instead, it said that potential entrants were “highly encouraged to submit non-binding information addressing their statutory eligibility” for the contest.
That language raised concerns on Capitol Hill that NASA was not following the intent of the law, which was to limit competition to companies studying Mars telecommunications spacecraft.
NASA said in the procurement filing for the final RFP that the agency would run “a full and open competition,” but also included “eligibility requirements” tied to the Budget Reconciliation Act. The cover letter states that companies must demonstrate that they have conducted commercial Mars sample return studies and propose a Mars telecommunications orbiter as part of their concepts.
Eight companies participated in those commercial Mars sample return studies: Blue Origin, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, Quantum Space, and Whittinghill Aerospace. NASA has not disclosed which of those companies have included the Telecom Orbiter as part of their studies.
Blue Origin and Rocket Lab have been the largest supporters of the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, publicly discussing their vision to meet NASA’s requirements for both communications and science. The final RFP includes plans added since the draft request to accommodate a 20-kilogram science payload measuring 55 by 55 by 45 centimeters and using 60 watts of power.
“Our Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, based on our existing Blue Ring vehicle, meets the urgent need for communications, navigation and relay, as well as flying up to 500 kilograms of science instruments to Mars,” Blue Origin Chief Executive Dave Limp said in a social media post on May 7.
