Geopolitical Routing in Future Space-Based Network Architectures

As the Artemis program gathers pace, most discussions understandably focus on propulsion, lunar landings, and human exploration.
But there is a quieter, largely unaddressed challenge emerging, How do we secure and govern data routing beyond Earth?

With the rapid growth of LEO satellite constellations, inter-satellite laser links, and future lunar relay networks, we are witnessing the early stages of a space-based Internet.

However, unlike terrestrial networks, this new environment introduces some fundamental questions:

• Where is data legally located when it is routed via orbiting infrastructure?
• What jurisdiction applies when a packet traverses multiple sovereign regions in seconds?
• How do we enforce data sovereignty when data may be buffered on satellites or relayed via extra-terrestrial nodes?

Existing frameworks such as the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR were never designed for this. Yet the implications are significant, not just commercially, but for national security, defence, and critical infrastructure resilience.

In my recent research, I explored the concept of geopolitically aware routing, for example, embedding jurisdictional constraints directly into network protocols (via IPv6), enabling routing decisions to be aligned with legal and security requirements.

As networking extends into space, these concepts don’t become obsolete, they become essential.

We are moving towards a future where :-

• Data may transit multiple orbital assets owned by different nation states
• Routing decisions may need to avoid specific operators or jurisdictions
• Delay-Tolerant Networking introduces storage (and therefore legal exposure) at every hop

This raises an important question :-

Are we building the next generation of global infrastructure without the policy and security frameworks to govern it?

I believe this is an area that would benefit from deeper collaboration between :-

• Academia
• Government (including organisations such as the National Cyber Security Centre)
• Industry and space operators

If you are working in this space (😀), or see alignment with ongoing research initiatives, I would welcome a conversation.

#CyberSecurity #SpaceTech #Artemis #Networking #IPv6 #DataSovereignty #NCSC #Research