Marslink - Starlink deployment around Mars.
Why Marslink?
SpaceX plan to create a colony on Mars. Even from the start of the first crewed landing, communications in important.
In the case of Mars, it would also be very useful to help capture the first landing attempts in order to relay as much detail as possible back to earth for review.
When & How?
It seems logical to send one of the Starlink ships as one of the first five Starships in 2026. This has the advantage not only of starting a good comms network, but also a high chance of success.
Landing in one piece on Mars is unknown and may fail, but reaching Mars orbit and being able to deploy Marslink is very likely to succeed. Thus setting up for good mission monitoring and laying a foundation for all future missions.
Providing good coverage of a smaller area on Mars, the proposed landing area, would probably only need around 12 satellites so one Starship would be plenty to get started.
The Starship could either then stay in orbit if equipped as an Earth relay station, or used as a test lander like the other ships.
