DoD to launch IRIS, space router, for Internet communications of global military

William Atkins
Saturday, 14 April 2007 19:58

Science - Space

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has announced its intentions to launch the Internet Routing In Space (IRIS) satellite in 2009, which will allow for voice, video, and data communications for U.S. and ally troops around the world.

Commercial satellite company Intelsat General Corporation (Bethesda, Maryland) was selected to manage the project, which is technology known as military communications through an Internet router in space. The three-year project is part of the DoD’s Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD).

A router is a computer switching device that transfers incoming Internet information to outgoing links through the best possible route.

Global networking company Cisco Systems (San Jose, California) will provide IP (Internet Protocol) networking software and SEAKR Engineering (Denver, Colorado) will manufacture the space router. Space Systems/Loral (Palo Alto, California) will manufacture the satellite (called IS-14) to carry the IRIS payload into space.

The launch of IRIS is scheduled for the first part of 2009. Its orbit will be a geostationary orbit at 45 degrees West longitude. Geostationary (sometimes called geosynchronous or Clarke) is a particular type of orbit that is directly above the Earth’s equator, which is located at 0 degrees latitude. An observer on the Earth’s surface would appear to see the satellite always at the same point in the sky.

The mission of IRIS is to expand the Internet into space so that satellites, airplanes, spacecraft, and other devices, machines, and systems will be organized for efficient and instant communications for military use in the United States and its allies around the world.