I found an interesting story about Cisco's Internet Routers in Space (IRIS) project.
"Cisco's new-market ambitions extend into orbit" <http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/070709-ciscos-new-market-ambitions-extend-into.html> Cisco's router will be hosted by Intelsat IS-14. (Is this the platform on which AMSAT had hoped for a ride?) In my view, AMSAT has perhaps two good stories that might warrant cheap or free launches: education (developing the next generation of space scientists and engineers) and research (in this case, IP in space). I believe that the proposed Advanced Communications Package (ACP) had a strong research story to tell. The ACP, like Cisco's IRIS project, probably would have been an IP router in space (a view I articulated in my 2008 AMSAT paper, although the general idea had been mentioned earlier, I think). I claim that the ACP project could have provided the basis for a story about the relevant and cutting-edge research that the project would have enabled. The story might have been competitive enough to, for example, win support via the DoD Space Test Program (I wrote a Symposium paper about that, too). Or, maybe we could have teamed with Cisco. (Obviously, we have built a lot more satellites than has Cisco...) The primary point being that I believe that organizations with money are more likely to fund a research project, than our usual alternatives (e.g., emergency communications [there is a ton of bandwidth in orbit these days, to mix metaphors], developing skilled radio operators [who needs them?], contesting ["you want a really expensive satellite to do what???"], or fostering international understanding [in the age of the Internet]). But, to take advantage of these [alleged] opportunities, we need to get much better at creating and telling a research story. And, this would require a dramatic (perhaps impossible) cultural change for AMSAT. Voice communications would no longer be the primary motivation or justification for a project; it would merely be a nice side-effect. I suppose that the real difference between AMSAT's ACP and Cisco's IRIS is that Cisco has a development team and has more money to pay launch fees. But, maybe AMSAT could have been a subcontractor... -tjs _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat...@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
