NASA announced today that it has awarded Blue Origin the contract to develop the Mars Telecommunications Network. The company has taken a deal worth potentially $700 million to create a high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter for the agency by December 31, 2028. Once operational, the orbiter will transmit “science data, imagery, navigation information, and critical mission communications for spacecraft operating on and around the planet.”

The space agency is using its Artemis program to explore the moon. Progress has been slow but resulted in a successful human crewed mission earlier this year, and those missions will serve as preparation to eventually send astronauts to Mars. NASA will need more data as it continues to work toward that goal, so having a reliable way to send that information from the Red Planet to the Blue Dot will be essential.

Blue Origin has already worked with the space agency, securing a contract to build lunar landers at the start of this year. In May, the company’s New Glenn rocket program took a setback after a launchpad explosion, and although Blue Origin’s CEO claimed repairs on the launchpad would be done by the end of 2026, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman projected it would be out of commission until 2028.