NASA releases final RFP for Mars communications orbiter

WASHINGTON — NASA has released the final request for proposals for a Mars telecommunications system, confirming requirements that limit the companies that can bid on it.

NASA issued the final RFP for the Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN) on May 14, seeking proposals by June 15. NASA said it intends to have the selected company under contract by Oct. 1.

MTN is designed to provide communications capabilities for other missions at Mars as existing orbiters, which serve as data relays in addition to their primary science missions, age. MTN was funded by last year’s budget reconciliation act, which provided NASA with $700 million for a Mars telecommunications orbiter that would be ready by the end of 2028.

The bill also directed NASA to limit eligibility for the contract to companies that received funding in fiscal years 2024 or 2025 for Mars sample return commercial design studies and, as part of those studies, “proposed a separate, independently launched Mars telecommunication orbiter supporting an end-to-end Mars sample return mission.”

However, a cover letter for the draft RFP released April 2 stated that the agency “will conduct this acquisition as a full and open competition,” with no explicit mention of the requirements from the budget reconciliation act. Instead, it said that potential competitors were “highly encouraged to submit nonbinding information addressing their statutory eligibility” for the competition.

That language raised concerns on Capitol Hill that NASA was not following the intent of the law, which was to limit the competition to companies that had studied Mars telecommunications spacecraft.

NASA, in the procurement filing for the final RFP, stated that the agency will run “a full and open competition” but added it includes “eligibility requirements” linked to the budget reconciliation act. The cover letter stated that companies must demonstrate they performed commercial Mars sample return studies and proposed a Mars telecom 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 included telecom orbiters as part of their studies.

Blue Origin and Rocket Lab have been the biggest proponents of a Mars telecom orbiter, publicly discussing their approaches for meeting 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 while also flying up to 500 kg of science instruments to Mars,” Dave Limp, chief executive of Blue Origin, said in a May 7 social media post.