The Net. In Space.
p2pnet.net OT news:- “A successful recent experiment in using the Internet Protocol to control an orbiting satellite illustrates the potential value of commercial communications and networking technology in space, according to an executive with Cisco, the company that sponsored the project.”
The Net in space, in other words. Cool.
But it wouldn’t be for the likes of the average surfer. Not yet, anyway. Unless you’re in the US military.
The quote is from the Military Information Technology Online Archives, 2005, and it has Rick Sanford, director of global space initiatives for the Cisco Global Space, Defense and Security Group, saying, “The concept of TCP/IP in space isn’t new. What was unique about our approach was in taking a commercial available router, along with the full suite of protocols in our Internet operating system, and putting it in space to test the protocols.”
Now, the US Department of Defense’s IRIS (Internet Router Protocol in Space) project, “will put an internet router in space by the start of 2009,” says the BBC. “It will allow voice, video and data communications for US troops using standards developed for the internet.”
Iris will allow troops to communicate online from remote regions, says the story, going on:
“The programme aims to develop advanced concepts and put ‘innovative concepts into the hands of war fighters in the field’.”
Intelsat General Corp says it’s been selected for the industry-government collaboration, “to demonstrate the viability of conducting military communications through an Internet router in space”.
The payload will convert to commercial use once testing has been completed, it says, going on that Cisco will provide commercial IP networking software for the on-board router, and SEAKR Engineering of Denver will make the space-hardened router and integrate it into the IRIS payload.
IRIS will interconnect one C-band and two Ku-band coverage areas, says Intelsat.
The IRIS architecture and design, “allow for flexible IP packet (layer 3) routing or multicast distribution that can be reconfigured on demand,” says the company. “With the on-board processor routing the up and down communications links, the IRIS payload is expected to enhance satellite performance and reduce signal degradation from atmospheric conditions.
“IRIS is to the future of satellite-based communications what ARPANET was to the creation of the Internet in the 1960s,” says Intelsat General’s Don Brown.
Also See:
Online Archives – Protocols in Space, October 4, 2005
BBC – Net reaches out to final frontier, April 13, 2007
Intelsat General Corp – Intelsat to Test Internet Routing In Space for the U.S. Military, April 13, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the endSurvey: How Did Copyright Infringement Become Equated with Robbery? (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php | | And use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site
Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
