Current and Future Communications Around Mars

Human exploration of Mars will require advancements in the communication architecture located around Mars. While communication is currently possible with spacecraft around Mars, the bandwidth received is insufficient to what would be needed to support a crewed expedition. A Low Mars Orbit (LMO) and areostationary constellation both have benefits over the other, but an areostationary constellation would be the most logical choice to be launched first, with an LMO constellation being incorporated later when the need for reliable point-to-point ground communication or polar communication arises. Systems Tool Kit (STK) provides visualizations of some of the possible architecture configurations around Mars. While the main focus of this paper is on radio communication, it is explained that for future exploration of Mars, optical communication technology will need to be matured and implemented.