Intelsat General Corp. will manage an industry-government collaboration for the U.S. Department of Defense that will demonstrate the viability of conducting military communications through an Internet router in space, the company announced April 11.
The Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) program will serve as a computer processor in the sky, merging communications being received on various frequency bands and transmitting them to multiple users based on data instructions embedded in the uplink. The payload will support network services for voice, video and data communications, enabling military units or allied forces to communicate with one another using Internet protocol and existing ground equipment.
The program is one of seven projects funded and announced in fiscal 2007 as a Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) by the Pentagon. The Defense Information Systems Agency will have overall responsibility for coordinating use of the technology among government users and for developing means of leveraging the capability.
Cisco will provide commercial IP networking software for the on-board router while Seakr Engineering Inc. will manufacture the space-hardened router and integrate it with the payload. Concerto Advisors, a financial advisory firm, is organizing equity financing for a new company to provide the funds to design, build and operate the equipment for the demonstration.
Intelsat previously announced that Space Systems/Loral will manufacture the satellite, IS-14, which is set for launch in the first quarter of 2009.
Once the three-year program is completed, the IRIS payload will become the property of a Concerto affiliate, and Intelsat will operate the payload to provide services for government and commercial users.