To further investigate Mars, NASA has issued a Request for Information that will look into the possibilities of commercial Mars-orbiting satellites to be used for telco purposes on future robotic missions.

John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission, said that they would want to create new models to further broaden Mars exploration which could be a vital component that could bring humans to Mars.

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Grunsfeld explained that they are interested in alternative models that will sustain and evolve Mars' communication relay infrastructure and avoid communication gaps to its robots.

The RFI states an opportunity for commercial service providers to own and operate one or more communication relay orbiter, thereby opening doors to US industries, universities, non-profits, other NASA centers, federal funded research and development centers, US government and international organizations.

It further encourages innovative ideas for a cost-effective approach that will improve communication and providing better relay services to existing landers.

NASA Mars Exploration Program uses relay radios on its science orbiters carrying high-gain antennas and high power transmitters.

It currently operates two science orbiters - Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Obiter, which enables communication links to Curiosity and its Opportunity rovers. 

Lisa May, lead program executive of the Mars Exploration Program, said that the Mars relay strategy has been extremely successful in providing science and engineering data coming from the Martian surface over the past decade.

However, she believes that they need to explore the possibility of commercialization of Mars communication services, because it will provide an appropriate return on investment to service providers.