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
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2024
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Nice to see things coming into place.
Since the beginning it was obvious the old DSN wouldn’t cut it anymore.
We need local versions of GPS and Starlink on Mars. Most likely the same for the Moon, even if we have direct sight of half of it all of the time.
The Moon could also use SPSs and nukes.
They will need some sort of relay satellites in a solar orbit between Earth and Mars. Also if those satellites could cache the communications, that would also be useful.
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
The GPS system per se needs 24 satellites, Starlink can be used now for navigation with comparable accuracy, so could Marslink, with almost any arbitrary number of satellites. https://www.pcmag.com/news/researchers-find-way-to-use-starlink-signals-as-alternative-to-gps#:~:text=Starlink%20can%20be%20used%20as,its%20location%20on%20the%20planet.
“real-time images and data streams from Mars to Earth”
Real time apart from the >4 minute delay….?
Brian, how about a huge post about Trump’s massive victory?
Like every other news outlet in existence? okay.
I take Musk’s bet paid off, but it’s pending to see up to what degree.
At least no more FAA and EPA delays due to wrong tweets are to be expected.
What this changes from the classic SciFi take on Mars settlers is that rather than being extremely isolated they will stay intimately connected to everyone on Earth with just a lightspeed delay. Everyone on Mars will be an influencer/social media star.
Everyone on Mars will be in voicemail/text/Facebook,Instagram,Whatsapp,X,TikTok, contact with everyone on Earth 24/7/365 even if on an expedition to the most distant part of that alien planet.
The economy of Mars will be intimately connected to the economy of Earth. Every settler will be a millionaire in Earth currencies, invested in Earth financial markets very highly paid and able to remit funds to relatives and friends anywhere on Earth.
> near-instantaneous data flow between planets
Eight minutes at this time, more at maximum distance. Speed of light is fairly slow at interplanetary distances. It will be the same email as NASA has with its DSN.
What might the logistics be of having a communications array that sits between planets? It would be awesome to have petabit interplanetary communication.