# Presentation: 279776

## Lunar6

- Distributed
- Space/Ground
- Network Centric Operations
- Research Testbed

## Network Centric Operations Research  (NCO)  

**Network Centric Operations Research  (NCO)**

_**Objectives**_
**Attack NCO Operations Problems in real-world space and ground deployments**
**Security**
**International Interoperability**
**Off-nominal Operations**
**Increase Operations Readiness Level (ORL) as well as TRL**

_**Schedule Milestones**_
**FY2008 – Industry/Academia/NASA testbed up and running**
**FY2008 – International NCO network design and collaborations**
**FY2009 – Secure International Interoperability Testing**
**FY 2009/2010 – International flight demonstration on a variety of smallsats**

_**Approach**_
**Industry/Academia/NASA combined space network testbeds**
**Minimize Cost / Maximize Return**
**Train new engineers on space-based NCO issues**
**Perform Human Factors Research**
**Protocol Development and Deployment  using operational systems **
**International Interoperability and Security via real-world operations**

## Approach

**Industry/Academia/NASA combined space network testbeds**
- Protocol Development
- Allow Academia and Industry to develop the protocols
- Allow NASA to concentrate on reliable flight hardware/software implementation
- Aerospace Communication and Network Engineer development (for NASA and DoD)
- Include NASA Operations Personnel
- Human Factors
- Social Factors
**Protocol Development and Deployment (including operational experience)**
- Internet Protocol version 6
- Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking
- International Collaboration on protocol development (DTN bone)
- bundle agent discovery for space
**International Interoperability**
- Sharing of resources (ground stations, relays)
- Automated Scheduling (NASA, ESA, JAXA, commercial)
- Network Security (Securely Combining Networks where appropriate)

**Security**
- International Operations
- ITAR (And the foreign state equivalent)
- Store-and-Forward (data at rest)
- Key and Policy distribution
**Operations and operational deployment Issues– particularly manned operations**
- Voice Loops (audio multiplexing)
- Multicast commanding during launch (flood routing)
- Off-Nominal operations
- Unidirectional links
- Radio Cross-strapping (addressing and security considerations)
- Routing
- Network Addressing
- Networks in Motion (nemo), a mobile IP based routing mechanism
- Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (manet)
- Standard routing mechanisms (OSPF, RIP, etc)

## Testbed

**Distributed         NCO  Testbed**
**(All Operations over Emulated Links!)**

**Anomaly Implementation and Control Network**

**Monitoring and Human Factors**

## Rules of Engagement

- One is only allowed to command, control, communicate, and update systems over the links expected in space
- Failures will be injected into systems to experiment with recovery techniques;
- Failures will be implemented over an anomaly control network independent of the communications network
- Failure modes could be recommended by NASA Operations personnel
- A separate high-rate human factors monitoring network could be put into place to monitor the people working on configuring and trouble-shooting the communications network..
- This would provide interesting information on human factors.
-  Such information would be invaluable to NASA.
- The various systems will even be place in remote locations such as different universities.

## Distributed Testbed (Notional)

- Crew
- Exploration
- Vehicle
- (CEV)

- Communications
- Satellite

- Relay
- Satellite

- Lunar Base
- Station

- Launch Site

- Control
- Center

- Flight Test
- Facility

- Ground
- Station

- Tracking
- Station

**Psychology:  Harvard, Yale, Stanford**

**Controls:  University of Houston, Cleveland State**

## Skill Sets

- NASA has numerous excellent communication engineers.
- Excellent understanding of point-to-point radio communications.
- Generally have very little knowledge of how the radio system affects the upper layers of the protocol stack, the networking, transport, security, and applications.
- NASA has numerous excellent terrestrial networking engineers.  Some of these engineers even understand network security.
- It is an extremely rare individual that understands the interaction of radio systems and networks.
- These individuals reside on the networking side simply because at some point they are forced to understand why protocols are not working as expected.
- It is even rarer to find an individual that understands the interaction of radio systems, networking and security.   This skill set needs to be developed and is also greatly needed by DoD.

## Example Problems

- Who controls the key management and distribution? Where does this system reside?  How are keys distributed?
- Who controls security policy management and distribution?  Where does this system reside?  How is policy distributed?
- What are the hardware systems reset policies?  One may suspect that they will be different for manned spacecraft versus unmanned spacecraft.
- Do I have a back-channel for when I lock myself out of a system either by misconfigured security policy or misconfigured static routing or misconfigured radios?  Is that back channel via a virtual circuit of a different radio system?  One may suspect that this will be different for manned spacecraft versus unmanned spacecraft.
- Do I always have to encrypt my RF links, or during off-nominal operations can I revert to unencrypted links?
- Is this network to operate only in the closed IONET or should the design allow for International operations – this highly effects implementation and security.
- What risks is NASA willing to take regarding flight hardware and software certification for manned and unmanned operations?
- Do I need 24/7 communication for manned missions, or do we need to learn how to operated in autonomously?

## Items Requiring Immediate Attention

- Off-nominal voice-over-IP concepts
- Domain Named Services in space environments
- Security Certificate and Policy management and distribution in space environment
- Utility of Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking for Space
- Deployment of Multicasting in extreme environments for commanding (effectively flood routing)
- The utility (or lack thereof) of Policy-base routing in multi-homed systems
- Blind Commanding
- Predictive Routing
- Security, Security, Security
- Dynamic Routing in space (including MANET)
- Mobile-IP for space
- Effects of delays and bit-error-rates on various protocols – particularly with an IPsec security overlay
- Utility of various radio systems
- Robust communication hardware architectures (what is the most robust way to put together antennas, up/down-converters, interface cards, routing devices and security hardware).

## Conceptual Lunar Communications Architecture

**How does one **
**address (IP addresses)**
**this network?**
**Who controls the**
**addresses?**

## International Interoperability

- It’s all about security!
- Today’s NASA claims International Interoperability
- For the most part it is at the data-link layer and below
- Or, at the Federal Express layer.
- Mission Planning and Scheduling service must be implemented.
- A framework for such exists as part of the SLE, but has more to do with scheduling assets than extending the space link.
- Full interoperability means forward and return data is actually transmitted though systems owned and operated by various entities
- This has an enormous security implications