The first satellites go into orbit around Mars in 2008, as many as a half dozen of them,

There is a project that's underway called the interplanetary Internet. It's in operation between Earth and Mars. It's operating on the International Space Station. It's part of the spacecraft that's in orbit around the Sun that's rendezvoused with two planets.

First of all, in terms of investment in Internet-related developments, venture capitalists - once burned - are now very cautious and are investing in areas that actually make business sense.

There is not much margin to get (the satellites) in the exact orbit we want it to be. It's an instantaneous launch window -- either you go or don't go.

At this point, we're still very confident that we're in orbit in Mars and that we're going to see the spacecraft signal in a few hours.

It's going to be difficult to get it into orbit. Mars is hard, Mars can be unpredictable, but we've got a good team here.