Blue Origin secures $700M NASA deal to build Mars communications network by 2028

NASA has awarded Blue Origin a firm-fixed-price contract worth up to about 700 million dollars to design, build, and operate a dedicated Mars telecommunications network, including a high-performance relay orbiter required by the end of 2028 and planned to become operational at Mars by 2030. The system will relay science data, imagery, navigation information, and mission communications for spacecraft around Mars, and is described as a DTN-enabled part of NASA’s broader Space Communications and Navigation architecture to extend network services from Earth to the Moon and Mars. The award marks a continuation of Blue Origin’s collaboration with NASA, which already includes lunar lander work, even as its New Glenn rocket program suffered a major setback from a launchpad explosion. NASA says the Mars network will increase communications capacity, reliability, and flexibility as mission data volumes grow for Artemis-era lunar missions and future crewed Mars exploration. The contract underscores NASA’s push to rely on commercial infrastructure to support interplanetary communication as part of an expanding interplanetary network strategy. Although development challenges remain, NASA expects service readiness for Mars communications by the late 2020s, with operations intended to bridge Earth and Mars communications for multiple missions.