SpaceX Proposes ‘Marslink,’ a Version of Starlink for Mars, to NASA

A NASA presentation has revealed that SpaceX is working on a concept vision of Starlink that would be for NASA missions to the Red Planet and provide communications in the future.

Mars to get Wi-fi from Elon Musk?

Employees at NASA discussed the proposal in a presentation, which discussed buying services from other aerospace companies which could help the space agency to explore Mars. SpaceX’s Starlink has proven itself as a way to connect people on earth, with over 4 million users including in some very remote areas.

NASA asked providers to submit their proposals for technology that could be useful for Mars missions. SpaceX was one company to respond, and the NASA “Marslink” project was revealed by a slide. It would work in a very similar way to the way that Starlink currently works.

SpaceX was also accompanied in the slideshow by two other ideas that discussed “next-generation relay services”. The criteria is to beam 4Mbps or better in data across an incredible distance. Satellites would then be able to relay data and information to control centres here on Earth. Starlink’s laser communication system is very likely to be used for these purposes.

Will NASA choose Marslink?

The proposal centres around using satellites placed in the orbit of the red planet. These would then provide functionality for both ground and orbital assets in space. The Marslink design has also promised to exceed the required speed and capabilities. 

It is no surprise that SpaceX plans to be closely involved with the missions to Mars. Elon Musk’s vision of colonising Mars is no secret and there are even nods and Easter Eggs to this within the current hardware and app.

The NASA presentation states: “There are a significant number of companies interested, even beyond the study participants.” So it is possible that competing services could be used. However, the advantage of proof of concept from Starlink will probably make all the difference.

The ability to communicate in space is growing rapidly and the team at NASA recently achieved a “sustained downlink data rate of 6.25 megabits per second” in an experiment that used a laser system on a spacecraft 240 million miles away. This is roughly the distance between Mars and Earth at points of their orbits.