In a recent article, "The Solar System Internet: Envisioning a networked future beyond Earth," Elliott School Professor of Practice and Director of the Space Policy Scott Pace and co-author Yosuke Kaneko offer insight into the limitations of current space communications and explore the new generation of communications and navigation services that seek to surpass those limitations in cislunar space and beyond.
As the authors outline the problem: "Traditional point-to-point links, reliant on scheduled radiofrequency (RF) contacts and specialized protocols, struggle with the challenges of interplanetary distances such as propagation delays exceeding 20 minutes one-way to Mars, frequent line-of-sight disruptions, and asymmetric data rates where uplink capacities can be orders of magnitude lower than downlink." A Solar System Internet (SSI), which leverages Delay Tolerant Networking (DRN) using Bundle Protocol (BP) looks to overcome those challenges.
Pace and Kaneko explain that, "The SSI is not a single, monolithic network but an interoperable overlay designed to 'federate' all kinds of distinct space assets—spacecraft, relays, rovers, and ground stations—into a 'store-and-forward' fabric tolerant of the solar system’s unforgiving communication environment." SSI is critical for reliability, scalability, and access in space operations and its technical foundations are demonstrably sound. However, extensive action is needed to make the system a reality. As the authors conclude, "...the SSI is no longer speculative—it’s the architecture for humanity’s coming multi-planetary epoch if we decide to build it. If we do not, others will."
To learn more, consult the complete article, published in The Space Review.