Video Summary
A Cisco Systems router launched into orbit has been successfully tested and demonstrated by an international government and private sector collaboration, showing how Internet Protocol (IP) can be used to communicate with satellite payloads in space. Cisco acted as a catalyst in bringing organizations in the defense, civil and commercial worlds together to test and demonstrate its router. The Cisco 3251 Mobile Access Router was launched into low Earth orbit onboard the UK-DMC (Disaster Monitoring Consortium) satellite, built and operated by Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. (SSTL) of Guildford, England. In June 2004, after lying dormant while the satellite's primary payloads were used, the router successfully completed a number of tests that demonstrate the effectiveness of IP communication to satellites. The router tests form part of a "Virtual Mission Operations Center" (VMOC), an initiative of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Rapid Acquisition Net Centricity, executed as a collaborative experiment among the Air Force, the Army and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and using software by General Dynamics. The software used IP to acquire satellite telemetry; request images from SSTL's satellite dynamically; and perform real-time access to on-orbit satellite equipment (the Cisco router).

The space community has traditionally built proprietary gear. These tests have been important because they represent the first demonstration of a commercial network device - a router - on a satellite in space.

Next Generation of Networking: Mobile Router Tested in Orbit (Video - 9:39 min)
This 9 minute 39 second video provides further detail on the approach taken, its benefits, and the collaboration. It describes how the successful demonstrations and tests validate the position that terrestrial protocols and standards can be reused in space environments.

Cisco in Space: Mobile Access Router in Low-Earth Orbit on UK-DMC (Video - 3:14 min)
This 3 minute 14 second video shows the launch and shows how the "constellation" of low earth orbit-"LEO"-satellites provide highly refined, multi-spectral images of the earth's environment for international disaster relief.

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