CIS BAA IV Industry Day Slides.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

CIS Capability Studies IV:

Industry Day nasa.gov

August 13, 2025

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

CIS BAA IV covers both lunar optical trunklines and Mars Relay – primary focus today is on Mars Relay

Welcome

C I S B A A I V : I N D U S T R Y D A Y

Topics:

• BAA Overview

• Context for space communications regimes

• Mars relay challenge

• Purpose of the BAA

• Next steps

2Artist Concept

NASA and the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program are committed to industry engagement and participation as we pursue Mars relay capability

Title Goes HereCIS Capability Studies IV (NextSTEP-3: Appendix C)

C I S B A A I V : I N D U S T R Y D A Y

• Objective:

• Partner with industry to develop communication architectures in support of NASA Moon to Mars objectives

• Study Areas:

• Lunar Trunkline Communication

Architectures

• Mars End-to-End Communication Service Architectures

• Industry Day:

• Acquisition Overview

• Clarification of Study Area 2 objectives, scope, and relationship to NASA initiatives

Space Communications

Regimes: Earth, Cislunar, &

Mars and Deep Space.

C I S B A A I V : I N D U S T R Y D A Y

SCaN’s regime framework aligns generalized regions of space with a localized set of missions, network architectures, and assets that can support missions in those locations.

Regimes are defined by factors including relative distance to Earth and proximity to celestial bodies.

S C a N i n i t i a t e d M a r s a n d D e e p S p a c e s t r a t e g i c p l a n n i n g i n F Y 2 5 , b u i l d i n g o n i t s s u c c e s s p a r t n e r i n g w i t h i n d u s t r y i n n e a r E a r t h a n d c i s l u n a r s p a c e

E a r t h C i s l u n a r

Adopt commercial solutions to provide global, low-latency, high-throughput services to users

M a r s a n d D e e p S p a c e

Develop a cohesive approach across the agency to identify and close projected gaps

Communications Services

Project well underway with six industry partners for space relay

Near Space Network is validating new DTE services and partners

32 Leverage commercial and international partners to deliver cislunar C&PNT capacity and capability

Lunar relay services partner progressing in development and deployment

Lunar Exploration Ground

Segment commercial services validation underway

Complete remaining DSN antenna builds by 2030

Integrate future mission needs from across the Agency

Engage in market research

Pivot to Mars and Deep Space Regimes

C I S B A A I V : I N D U S T R Y D A Y

Executive and Congressional support represent an opportunity to accelerate Mars relay

The President’s Budget and Congressional interest give us a bold target. The chance to realize a new Mars relay at speed depends on NASA and industry working together.

O n e B i g B e a u t i f u l B i l l A c t

“… $700,000,000 to be obligated not later than fiscal year 2026, for the procurement, using a competitively bid, firm fixed-price contract with a United States commercial provider (as defined in section 5010(7)), of a high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter

…capable of providing robust, continuous communications for –a Mars sample return mission…and… future Mars surface, orbital, and human exploration missions…

…shall be delivered to the Administration not later than December 31, 2028.”

P r e s i d e n t ’ s B u d g e t R e q u e s t

“ESDMD will also begin deployment of communications relay capabilities around Mars to provide more robust communication links between Mars and Earth, leveraging commercial capabilities to the maximum possible extent.”

…ESDMD will leverage SOMD’s capabilities, such… the Space Communications and Navigation Program, as

…Communication capability provider…”

Today’s Mars Relay Network (MRN) is operated by the Science Mission Directorate’s Mars Exploration

Program

Data is delivered through a network of hybrid science/relay orbiters and ground stations, including the Deep Space Network and ESTRACK

However, as these orbiters age and approach retirement, the system’s capabilities will steadily decline.

The challenge for MRN’s successor :

• Ensure continuity of MRN services

• Accelerate progress in Mars exploration

• Advance toward a long-term Mars C&PNT architecture

New capability is needed to meet future agency needs

C I S B A A I V : I N D U S T R Y D A Y

DSN

NASA

ESTRACK

ESA

RKPNI

ROSCOSMOS

Odyssey

NASA

Mars Express

ESA

Mars 2020 Rover

(Perseverance)

NASA

Mars Science

Laboratory (Curiosity)

NASA

Mars

Reconnaissance

Orbiter (MRO)

NASA

MAVEN

NASA

ExoMars Trace Gas

Orbiter (TGO)

ESA

*Image credit ESA

Path forward must integrate extensive work already completed across the agency with industry perspectives

• Both SCaN and SMD MEP have extensively studied future Mars communications architectures (e.g., orbits, platforms, spectrum); a cross-agency team is collaborating to bring “best in class” concepts to the table

• SCaN is aligning mission needs and formulating a new project to meet the Mars relay requirement

• CIS BAA IV is a key component of initial market research which will be considered alongside prior studies to inform requirements development and acquisition strategy

Artist Concept

Out of the box thinking and new options: are there viable alternatives to what NASA has already studied?

Is there an architecture that reduces or removes reliance on the Deep Space Network?

This is a vastly different market space from low Earth orbit and even cislunar, how can NASA make this work for industry?

Synergy with wider Mars activity: are there ways to maximize outcomes by combining other NASA requirements for Mars exploration?

Expectations for Industry Feedback

NASA is seeking input on both the architecture and the acquisition strategy

Next Steps

We will continue to communicate with industry as we reconcile external guidance and move towards a formal solicitation for the Mars Relay requirement

CIS BAA IV POCs and Timeline

C I S B A A I V : I N D U S T R Y D A Y

RFP Release

July 7th, 2025

Proposal Submission Deadline

September 17th, 2025

Award Selection

Anticipated December 1st, 2025

Question Deadline

August 20th, 2025

Antwan Reid

Contracting Officer (CO)

Antwan.G.Reid@nasa.gov

Dan Motto

Contracting Officer Representative daniel.m.motto@nasa.gov