MarCo Spacecraft: Study and Analysis for Developing Communication Infrastructure for Manned Mission to Mars

Distance between Earth and Mars ranges from between 55 million kilometres and 400 million, that is between 140 to 1,025 times further that the distance from the Earth to the Moon. This means that it could take as long as 20 minutes to send a message travelling at the speed of light one-way between the two planets. So for launching a manned mission communication infrastructure is required to be prepared for dealing with any emergency communication.

Recent mission launched by NASA of Insight Lander on Mars along with two cubesats named Mars Cube One(MarCo) could be a stepping stone for developing a fleet of satellites and building a communication infrastructure for manned mission to Mars. MarCo radio provide both UHF and X-band functions and capable of immediately relaying information, whereas earlier launched Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is able to transmit information in X-band but can’t simultaneously transmit and receive information. This paper deals with the detailed study and analysis of MarCO spacecraft functioning and further possible designs of a proposed communication infrastructure in future manned missions to Mars.