Brilliance

I'm loving this mod more and more with each update, and absolutely looking forward to playing with all the new toys. It seems there may be a bug or two, which is to be expected, but I haven't seen anyone point out the worst of them yet: In the first screenshot in the OP, there is a typo in 'abundance'. Hotfix! New version!

Out of range I believe. From the mod description in the first post: 'Mission Control at the Kerbal Space Center delivers a vast omnidirectional antenna that will reach your vessels up to and slightly beyond Minmus.' You're supposed to build a comsat network before going interplanetary . Also, your line of sight to Kerbin mission control / any satellite you may put up can be occluded by the planet, so remember to take that into account when you find yourself (possibly temporarily) disconnected. As to the point that mission control should have a longer range, that's probably true. But even so, the rotation of the planet would make a relay the most reliable option.