SALT LAKE CITY - Blue Origin has revealed its concept for a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO), entering a burgeoning field alongside Rocket Lab and Lockheed Martin as companies vie to enhance communications infrastructure for future Mars missions. The announcement highlights a proactive push by private aerospace firms, even as SpaceX remains notably absent from the fray, opting instead for its own ambitious Martian connectivity plans, Ryan Caton writes for NASA Space Flight. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
21 August 2025 - Blue Origin has outlined its proposal for a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO), entering the competition to provide future communications infrastructure at the Red Planet. The company joins Rocket Lab and Lockheed Martin in submitting unsolicited concepts ahead of any formal request from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The spacecraft would be based on Blue Origin’s modular Blue Ring platform, which uses a hybrid electric-chemical propulsion system and roll-out solar arrays. Designed to support NASA’s projected 2028 mission timeline, the orbiter would provide continuous, high-bandwidth links with steerable antennas and wide-beam coverage. Blue Origin also proposes deploying small UHF relay satellites into low Mars orbit to connect both legacy spacecraft and upcoming landers.
The company says the MTO design allows for more than 1,000 kilograms of additional payload capacity. Advanced onboard data storage, edge computing, and artificial intelligence are also included to help process science data and improve communications reliability.
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Jamie Whitney, Senior Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
