Brian Wang SpaceX will create Marslink as a first step towards greater than petabit per second communication between Earth and Mars. Marslink aims to establish a high-speed data relay system—capable of transmitting 4 Mbps or more—across 1.5 astronomical units, the distance between Earth and Mars. The system will use multiple satellites in Mars orbit and leverage Starlink’s advanced laser communication tech to maintain a constant, near-instantaneous data flow between planets. This network could serve Mars missions, allowing real-time images and data streams from Mars to Earth, as well as supporting future ground operations and Mars orbit assets. This is just a very basic first step. Earth and Mars will ultimately need >petabit/sec connectivity. https://t.co/FBXeDQeczZ November 9, 2024 at 2:58 pm One Astronomical Unit is approximately 93 million miles or 149 million kilometers, and is the average distance from the Sun to the Earth During the two orbits of Earth and Mars, they can be as close as about 0.52 AU when both are on one side of their orbit and closest, or as far apart as approximately 2.5 AU when they are on different sides of their orbits from each other on opposite sides of the Sun The smallest separation of about 1/2 AU, has an ~4 minutes speed of light lag time one way. The largest distance apart will mean ~20-minute one way time. Text or mail communications would be more practical than voice or video, and use less bandwidth Pretty sparse info on the available slide and link, and I didn’t find a complete set by searching, so questions How many satellites will orbit Mars? A total of 6 could provide global, pole to pole communications capability. Will the Mars orbiting satellites only have communications capability, and maybe some imagery and monitoring, or will they also have GPS functionality? That would require 24 satellites Is the bandwidth quoted (4Mbps) for the close or distant times of the orbits? Will there be any relay stations in either Earth or Mars orbits at the Sun-Mars or Sun-Earth L4 and L5 Lagrange points for those periods when the Sun is directly between the two planets? Both Earth and Mars are moving, so being exact about how long the Sun would occlude the transmission path is more math than I care to take on right now But, “back of the envelope” calculation indicates that every synodic period [~780 days] there will be a period of possibly several days when direct comms are not possible. Relaying the signal through a Sun-Mars L4 or L5 Lagrange point would prevent that blackout It will take a pretty powerful laser w/ low divergence, etc., to make 4 Mbps comms work across ~370 million kilometers