Enhancing Inter-Satellite Data Relay in Dynamic Space Communication

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the design and operations of an inter-satellite data relay network, which includes Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geo-stationary Orbit (GEO) satellites. Due to the different orbiting speeds and dynamic behaviors of these satellite constellations, we consider Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) between them and implement contact graph routing (CGR) at the layer-3 and Licklider Transmission Protocol (LTP) at layer-4. We base our analysis on a realistic space scenario where satellite locations and movements over time are extracted from a real-time satellite database. We demonstrate end-to-end latency and goodput of a file transfer through the satellite network under consideration.