EARTH - MARS DATA LINKS

Nasa is seeking help from universities and companies about better ways to relay data back to Earth. The aim is to close a potential communications gap set to occur in 2020.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28462351

Currently Nasa relies on two craft orbiting Mars, Odyssey and the Reconnaissance Orbiter, to pass data back to Earth beamed to them from the Curiosity rover on the Martian surface.

Data relay will be taken over by two newer spacecraft:  Nasa's Maven satellite (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution in September 2014, and Europe's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in 2016.

Nasa has no plans to launch orbiters after Maven. However, there are plans to land more rovers on Mars, which will potentially create a problem retrieving data gathered by the rovers. 

Nasa's John Grunsfeld says 'We are looking to broaden participation in the exploration of Mars to include new models for government and commercial partnerships.'

This could include laser data transfer to boost data transfer rates.

Comment:  Exploration of Mars using surface rovers looks set to expand. Will this develop into a commercial 'goldrush' mentality, allowing a few rich countries to exploit the red planet?