U.S. Military To Put Router In Space

The U.S. Department of Defense, in conjunction with Intelsat, Cisco, and several other companies, intends to put an Internet router into space.  While impressive, it’s not quite “Star Wars” . . . .  Think “orbital communications,” instead.

Dubbed Internet Routing In Space (IRIS), the project will bear fruit in 2009, when the actual launch is scheduled to occur.  At that point, “IRIS will enable U.S. and allied military forces with diverse satellite equipment to seamlessly communicate over the Internet from the most remote regions of the world,” according to Bill Shernit, President and CEO of