Elon Musk wants to give Mars its own version of Starlink

As Elon Musk eyes sending colonists to Mars entrepreneurs are starting to think about how they’d be supported and how they’d pay for goods – as well as communicate with Earth. So, naturally NASA is hunting for a partner capable of equipping Mars with steady internet connectivity, and SpaceX is convinced it's the right company for the job. A presentation shared Thursday reveals that SpaceX is working on a Mars iteration of Starlink called "Marslink," which would use dedicated satellites to relay information to and from the Red Planet.

Whether or not humans colonize Mars in the coming years, we'll need to supply our dusty planet with an updated communication channel. Today's Mars explorers use other missions' satellites to send information back to Earth: Curiosity or Perseverance sends data to NASA's MRO or MAVEN, which are otherwise busy studying the planet's composition, and then MRO or MAVEN relays the signal to a network of Earth antennae called the Deep Space Network (DNS). Although this system works right now, it isn't robust enough to support the myriad Mars missions various space entities are dreaming up - especially if humans ever find a way to live among all of that red dirt.

The Future of Space, by Futurist Keynote Matthew Griffin

To get ahead of the challenge, NASA has called on commercial space organizations to pitch how they would manage "next-generation relay services" for Mars. A slide deck shared by Spaceflight Now offers a peek at Marslink, a constellation of Starlink-like satellites that would orbit Mars and provide connectivity for both ground and orbital missions. NASA requires pitched relay systems to be capable of at least 4 megabytes per second (Mbps) of data transfer, and the slide alleges that Marslink exceeds this threshold, with extra capacity for imaging and monitoring.

SpaceX's plan for Mars internet competes with pitches from Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin. Blue Origin's plan involves a spacecraft platform called Blue Ring, which the company says offers hosting, data relay, and "in-space cloud computing." Lockheed's idea meanwhile incorporates its MAVEN spacecraft design.

It's unclear whether NASA is committed to choosing one of these plans in the near term or simply exploring commercial options; the organization's "Exploring Mars Together" slide deck insinuates both. Based on one slide in particular, it's possible that SpaceX, Blue Origin, or Lockheed will be awarded a study contract that allows it to flesh out a plan, conduct research, or develop a prototype solution.