A group of companies, including D.C.-based Intelsat General, is teaming with the U.S. military to test technology that would use an Internet router to direct communications in space.
The project is part of a program called Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, where both the government and private firms commit funding to experiment with technology that has military and commercial applications.
The router is one of seven of the military’s demonstration projects for 2007.
U.S. Strategic Command will invest $23 million to pay for communications services the router will provide, according to Air Force Maj. Tom Knowles, a Strategic Command spokesman. Concerto Advisors, an Iowa City, Iowa-based investment firm, will provide the financing to build the payload; Knowles said the project’s total cost will be around $80 million.
“It’s really a new business model, where government funding is only associated with buying the services after the payload is in orbit,” said Rick Sanford, director of Cisco System’s Global Space Initiative Group.
San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco will provide the networking software for the router, and Denver-based SEAKR Engineering will manufacture the router itself.
Intelsat General will launch the satellite that will carry the test router, which will be built by the end of 2008; the satellite is expected to launch in 2009.
Using Internet Protocol routers in space is beneficial because it eliminates the need for a satellite ground system to relay communications between satellites and the individuals receiving the information, Knowles said Monday. This could lead to less costly, more flexible communications systems for the military, he added. The router will support voice, video and data communications.
The technology also allows for a more efficient use of bandwidth, which is at a critical shortage for the military, Sanford said.
