Towards Realizing the Promise of Lower-Cost Near-Term Mars Science and Exploration

The Mars Exploration Program (MEP) 2024-2044 Plan [1] charts a new path for the next two decades of science-driven missions. An underpinning of the MEP 2024-2044 Plan is the ability to have a high cadence of missions leveraging frequent, low-cost access and at-Mars infrastructure. Current rapid maturation of affordable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and lunar industry capabilities point towards near-term Mars adaptation. Towards understanding Mars adaptations, cost, and needed government investment, MEP competitively solicited and conducted 12 studies across four major classes of potential missions with 9 companies in 2024. Additionally, MEP sought to understand if there is sufficient maturity and market to warrant a major shift towards services rather than government procurements via standard contracting vehicles. Several analogous NASA programs (Commercial Cargo, Commercial Crew, and Commercial Lunar Payload Services [CLPS]) use services to lower cost and increase mission frequency. The four major classes of studies include: 1) Small payload hosting and delivery to low Mars orbit, 2) Large payload hosting and delivery, 3) High-resolution surface imaging, and 4) Next-generation Mars telecommunication. Each class had three companies conducting separate studies, with some companies partnering. Three companies studied two major classes. Having three studies per major class with three of the companies studying two major classes and connections between them provides a good basis for understanding the range of the potential service cost, scope, and assumptions of required government investment. These studies underscore what has been hinted for the last decade: pairing much lower cost delivery to Mars with a telecommunications infrastructure at Mars is a powerful combination that can produce much lower cost and more frequent science- and human-exploration-driven missions at a cadence not yet achieved. The studies also reinforced that several combinations of delivery, proximity telecommunications, and imaging could be the first steps in this new paradigm. Lastly, several paths with different sequences of missions and consistent future funding levels are possible over the next decade. Having multiple options for future paths keeps the program nimble and able to adapt to discoveries and shifting priorities.