One Mars spacecraft, two senators, and a cloud of questions

NASA has opened a procurement for a $700 million Mars communications orbiter, with proposals due in June and an award expected by October.

The solicitation is funded by Congress and would help build NASA’s future Mars communications architecture.

But eligibility is limited to companies that previously studied a separate Mars telecom orbiter for Mars Sample Return.

That restriction has raised questions about whether the competition is truly open or tilted toward a few firms.