What does NASA’s new Mars Telecommunications Network tell us about networks on Planet Earth?

On the off chance you missed the notification, NASA has just launched an RFP for a Mars Telecommunications Network to provide ubiquitous connectivity for future Mars missions.

You may well be asking what the heck that has to do with networks here on Planet Earth?  Here at TNC, we think it says two very interesting things.

Firstly, and most importantly, it says that networks are increasingly vital.  We can see right across our clients that bandwidth demand continues to rise, resilience is becoming ever more critical, and the more you deliver to your organisation, the more they demand.  In other words, your network strategy needs to deliver the ability to grow, grow, and grow some more.

In 1969, Apollo 11 could only broadcast at 0.4mbps from the Moon, but the latest Artemis II mission a few months ago had peak bandwidths of 260mbps.  Partly that additional bandwidth was transmitting beautiful 4K video compared to the terrible “Slow Scan TV” from 1969, but it was also consumed with new use cases that either didn’t exist in 1969, or were shelved due to technical constraints.

So it goes in space, so it goes on Earth – we see use cases for networks proliferating, but the more bandwidth you deliver, the more use cases are found, so the more bandwidth you need.

What’s the second interesting thing?  Well, the next time you want to yell at your telco being late delivering a new circuit, at least be grateful you’re not trying to fix a problem 250 million miles away!