Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Router Tested On Satellite In Space

Posted by timothy on from the ping-times dept.

The Cisco router launched into orbit in September onboard a satellite built by SSTL (and on a Russian rocket) has now been successfully tested in space, and there's a video describing this and putting routers in space. A neat twenty-year coincidence here: an early Surrey satellite has been operating for twenty years, and Cisco launched its fastest router on its twentieth birthday. What do the next twenty years hold for fast routers in space?

17 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. Latency by denthijs · · Score: 2, Funny

    But did they fix the latency yet?
    You need ping to play Quake from space!

    1. Re:Latency by Bourbon+Man · · Score: 1

      Actually, this is a pretty valid point. Most (if not all) multiplayer games like Quake, Everquest, etc are unplayable with orbital lag. I had an ISP in the past that used a satellite link, and ping times to game servers were far too high to play. If any major portion of the internet ever gets routed this way, it could spell the end of multiplayer gaming on the internet.

    2. Re:Latency by TheAlmightyQ · · Score: 1

      Orbital lag is really just a problem with sats in geosync orbit. A network of low-earth orbiting satelites would be able to give you ping times as low as most landlines.

      --
      I hope you're not pretending to be evil while secretly being good. That would be dishonest.
  2. What do the next 20 years hold for space routers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Only sadness for the poor routers out there all alone.

  3. In other news... by k4_pacific · · Score: 4, Funny

    The satellite with the Cisco router has been hijacked by attackers using a recently discovered Cisco vulnerability. Experts believe the intent is to launch a denial of service attack on the Cassini-Huygens probe. Upon gaining root access, the attackers patched the vulnerability and changed the passwords. A multi-million dollar space mission is planned next week to manually press the reset button on the router.

    --
    Unknown host pong.
    1. Re:In other news... by _Sharp'r_ · · Score: 2, Funny

      No manual reset needed. I'm sure Cisco has a couple more vulnerabilities available internally that they haven't released patches for yet...

      --
      The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
  4. It's all fun and games until... by malakai · · Score: 3, Interesting
    %% Unable to create EXEC - no memory or too many processes
    ...mmm memory leaks...

    Solution? Disconnect your LAN/WAN interfaces so the rotuer frees up enough memory to create the shell. Oh, better be local when you do this...

    --
    -Malakai
    A Dragon Lives in my Garage
  5. Next headline: by stienman · · Score: 1


    "Virus tested on router on satellite in space"

    -Adam

  6. Details? by bsd4me · · Score: 1

    The articles were a bit lacking details, but a few things struck me.

    It didn't say what they were routing between. In most instances, merchant satellites are just used for point to point connections, so they are just bent-pipes. I am assuming that they are routing between different spot-beams or transponders. Or maybe the router is actually a bridge?

    One of the articles said that the satellite in question was a LEO. This means that it is in a non-stationary orbit, so ground terminals will have periodic outages, and also need to track the satellite. This complicates persistent connections.

    --

    (S(SKK)(SKK))(S(SKK)(SKK))

    1. Re:Details? by imagin8or · · Score: 2, Informative

      The sats that SSTL build are generally earth-obs sats - they're midway through a global monitoring constellation to provide 24/7 distaster and earth monitoring to a group of many countries. The router, therefore, will be being used on the onboard data networks between the system and sensor modules, uplink/downlink, OBC etc. I have a feeling that this is only being tested, so it'll run in parallel with their normal satellite data shunts and their multiple redundant networks.

      Being in LEO, it's in the line-of-sight of any one ground station for about 10 minutes at a time, and not on every orbit. Despite the movement, continuous data transmission is entirely possible over LEO constellations - as Iridium's 66 sat constellation shows.

      SSTL are micro, mini (and recently nano) sat builders, and they're currently building a test sat for the Gallileo GPS alternative for the European Space Agency.

      Why do I know this? My uni course was run in collaboration with them...

  7. Re:Just great by mhesseltine · · Score: 1

    You might have been first had you not pointed your default route to the orbiting router. The latency killed you.

    --
    Overrated / Underrated : Moderation :: Anonymous Coward : Posting
  8. Why would it fail? by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 1

    Don't tell me they use gravity or air pressure to do switching.

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
    1. Re:Why would it fail? by terrymaster69 · · Score: 1

      in orbit with no atmosphere you have to worry about radiation disturbances of your circuits. solar flares frying your circuitry, micrometeors slamming into the satellites, backdoors in your software, and spam ;P

  9. Interplanetary Internet by StarWynd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Routers in space will be the first steps towards an interplanetary internet. The folks at CCSDS (Consultive Committee for Space Data Systems) have been working on an interplanetary internet specification for a while now. Some additional technical details and other information is also available. Very interesting stuff.

  10. Prior art? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

    Didn't DirectPC already have NATs in Space? And just in case I need the funny mod as well: And didn't the Muppets have PIGs in Space?

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  11. Ping Times by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The problem is that the data signals are only limited to the speed on light so interplanitary internet would be impossible.. A ping of 15 minutes from Earth to Mars?

  12. Preparation for Independance Day by gorim · · Score: 1

    With the routers in space, we can now detect when hostile alien invaders begin to use them to coordinate their attack and destruction of planet Earth!

    Fortunately, the Cisco IOS vulnerabilities will remain intact to accommodate the breach of security that will save the planet Earth!

    Only 2 more days to go!