The first test of the interplanetary Internet

The NASA Agency first conducted practical testing of the network protocol DTN (Delay-Tolerant Networking), which in the future will become the basis for the interplanetary Internet : an automatic system for routing traffic through the constantly changing architecture of standard routers installed on spacecraft with which the Solar System is dotted.

At the moment, each spacecraft is forced to communicate directly with the Earth, and communication sessions are almost entirely controlled manually, which is a highly non-optimal communication system. If you organize a system of routers, you can not only organize a stable connection and constant traffic exchange, but also constantly expand the geography of the network, sending new routers farther and farther out of the solar system, while maintaining a constant connection with them. In this case, all packet routing will automatically.

During the month, NASA specialists simulated such a network with the participation of several rovers, orbiters, and control centers on Earth. Both the level of cryptography and the speed of data transmission fully satisfied the scientists.