Some good news about our future Mars missions:
Blue Horizons has the Mars Telecommunication Orbiter in the works - the launch engine will use a combination of chemical fuel and electrical. This will allow a wide latitude of possible launch dates since in will have potentially unlimited power.
The MTO itself will be a series of satellites with Lan/Wan abilities allowing for signals to be relayed in near real time. No more waiting minutes for a reply.
Blue Origin
The Mission: Blue Origin’s Mars Telecommunications Orbiter
https://www.blueorigin.com/news/blue-origin-mars-telecommunications-orbiter