IP Networking in Deep Space#

Marc Blanchet, Viagenie

• Why: Not operationally relevant, but the most instructive stress test of the IP suite's assumptions you'll read this year — what breaks when RTT is minutes and links vanish for hours.
• What: An architecture for Moon and Mars networks in which every link carries IP: 3GPP (5G/6G) and 802.11/WiFi on the surface, CCSDS for deep space, spacecraft onboard networks also IP — creating a single Layer-3 network end to end, aligned with NASA's LunaNet interoperability specification. The core problems: Earth-Moon ~2 s one-way delay, Earth-Mars 4–22 minutes, and intermittence (an orbiter passing behind a body turns a 2-second path into a 2-hour gap; until full laser-linked constellations exist, disruptions are the norm).
• How: Three key adaptations, with simulations confirming suitability: (1) temporary buffering of IP packets on forwarders with intermittent links; (2) configuring QUIC with parameters matching the expected round-trip time; (3) configuring application timeouts. Everything else follows from accepting asynchronous operation as the paradigm — no interactivity, no fast remote management.
• Where applicable: Space-specific by subject, but the delay/disruption-tolerance findings translate to any store-and-forward or high-latency environment, and the QUIC-parameter work is a concrete example of transport tuning under extreme RTT.