Next-Generation Mars Network Position, Navigation, and Timing for Future Robotic and Human Explorers
Margaret Rybak, Todd Ely, Eric Gustafson · 2026
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Description
Rybak, Ely, and Gustafson designed a future satellite network for Mars in this 2026 Journal of the Astronautical Sciences paper. Explorers and robots on Mars will need both communications and GPS-like positioning. A previously proposed three-satellite equatorial system, ideal for data links, proved poor at pinpointing surface locations because of bad viewing geometry.
The team tested alternatives in simulation. Tilting the orbits helped only over long tracking times, while a six-satellite inclined constellation delivered much better fixes within shorter spans, with the best results at a fifty-degree tilt. A seven-satellite design added uniform polar coverage. The paper weighs those trade-offs to guide how a combined navigation and relay network for human Mars missions might be built.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Margaret Rybak, Todd Ely, Eric Gustafson |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 48 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |