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Cisco in space

Marguerite Reardon Former senior reporter
Marguerite Reardon started as a CNET News reporter in 2004, covering cellphone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate and the consolidation of the phone companies.
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Marguerite Reardon

The U.S. military plans to send Cisco Systems into space, or at least its routing software.

Networking giant Cisco has been selected to provide IP routing software for a project headed by the U.S. Department of Defense that will deliver Internet communications through a satellite-based router. Satellite operator Intelsat will manage the three-year project.

Satellites have been shuttling Internet traffic between space and Earth for years. But until now, Internet among satellites or space stations had to go through a remote terminal on Earth. The new routing project will demonstrate how Internet traffic can travel among satellite-based routers without sending traffic down to Earth.

These routers could make IP communication around the world much faster, since satellites in space could become part of a fully connected IP network on Earth. The satellite is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2009. While the first applications for the satellite router will be developed for military use, eventually, the technology will be used for commercial purposes, according to a press release Intelsat put out this week.