Communications technologies for space exploration

Deep-space telecommunications over the next several decades will face continuing challenges to technological innovation. In the current era of going often, landing, and returning samples, the challenges are driven by the larger number of missions, each with much smaller mass and power. In the next era, the challenges may be driven by permanent robotic outposts, wide bandwidth telecommunications, and virtual presence at a variety of sites in the solar system, leading to eventual human exploration. Even more challenging will be the interstellar missions as we take the first steps in the journey beyond our solar system into interstellar space.