Internet Engineering Task Force                              M. Blanchet
Internet-Draft                                                  Viagenie
Intended status: Informational                                   W. Eddy
Expires: 2 September 2025                                    MTI Systems
                                                                   T. Li
                                                        Juniper Networks
                                                            1 March 2025


                  An Architecture for IP in Deep Space
                  draft-many-tiptop-ip-architecture-00

Abstract

   Deep space communications involve long delays (e.g., Earth to Mars is
   4-24 minutes) and intermittent communications, because of orbital
   dynamics.  The IP protocol stack used on Earth's Internet is based on
   assumptions of shorter delays and mostly uninterrupted
   communications.  This document describes the architecture of the IP
   protocol stack tailored for its use in deep space.  It involves
   buffering IP packets in IP forwarders facing intermittent links and
   adjusting transport protocol configuration and application protocol
   timers.  This architecture applies to the Moon, Mars, or general
   interplanetary networking.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 2 September 2025.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2025 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.





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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.1.  Document and Discussion Location  . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  Layer 2 in Deep Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.1.  Celestial Body Surface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.2.  Deep Space Links  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     2.3.  Celestial Body Orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  Internet Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.1.  IP Forwarding and Store-and-Forward . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.2.  Header Compression  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   4.  IP Addressing and Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.1.  Addressing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.2.  Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   5.  Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     5.1.  UDP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     5.2.  QUIC  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     5.3.  Other Transports  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   6.  HTTP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   7.  Network services  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     7.1.  Naming  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     7.2.  Network Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   8.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   9.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     10.1.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17

1.  Introduction

   Deep space communications involve long delays (e.g., Earth to Mars is
   4-20 minutes) and intermittent communications, because of orbital
   dynamics.  Up to now, communications have been done on a layer-2
   point-to-point basis, with sometimes the use of relays, but no
   layer-3 networking has been in use.  [RFC4838] reports an assessment
   done around 25 years ago concluding that the IP protocol stack was
   not suitable for deep space networking.  This result led to the
   definition of a completely new protocol stack based on a store-and-



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   forward paradigm implemented in the Bundle Protocol(BP) [RFC9171] and
   its various components, such as convergence-layer adapters
   ([RFC9174], [RFC7122]) and BP Security (BPSEC) [RFC9172].

   More recently, space agencies plan to deploy IP networks on celestial
   bodies, such as the Moon [ioag] or Mars[ioag-mars], on the surface
   and in orbital vicinity, using layer 2 technologies such as Wi-Fi or
   5G.  On the surface, the plan is to have a dense network around
   facilities and habitats.

   Mission concepts are also based on a cluster of multiple network
   nodes nearby at Lagrange points.

   A previous document [I-D.many-deepspace-ip-assessment] revisited the
   initial assessment of not using IP and concluded that the IP stack is
   viable in deep space, given the IP stack evolution that happened
   since the original evaluation.

   This document defines an architecture to use IP in deep space
   networking.  IP in deep space means running IP over deep space
   layer-2 links, a reliable transport over IP, applications protocols
   over that transport, and applying proper routing, security, and
   network management on that IP network.  Reusing the whole IP stack in
   deep space enables the reuse of all protocols, tools, and software
   currently used on the Internet.  However, as one might already argue,
   many components of the IP stack cannot be used as is and therefore
   requires careful configuration and deployment considerations that are
   discussed in this document.

   Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN), also known as Delay and Disruption-
   Tolerant Networking, has been used to identify the problem space, and
   since the solution was based on the Bundle protocol, DTN has also
   been associated with the Bundle protocol.  This document tries to
   solve the DTN problem using the Internet Protocol stack.  Therefore,
   in this document, the DTN keyword is used to name the problem space,
   not the Bundle protocol solution.

   Since the Moon is a few light seconds away from Earth, it is possible
   to configure and run various IP-based protocols and applications to
   make it "work".  Mars with a much longer delay is more difficult.
   This framework would also work for longer delays, such as reaching
   Jupiter or the whole Solar System Internet (SSI), but it is not
   specifically discussed.  This document uses "deep space" extensively
   as opposed to "space" which often includes earth-orbiting
   communications, which are not covered in this document.  Even if the
   definition of deep space per the ITU does not include the Moon, this
   document applies to IP networks on the Moon.




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   It should also be noted that DTN and BP were also designed for non-
   space use cases.  While this document focuses on the deep space use
   case, it shall work for the other use cases of BP, but these use
   cases are outside of the scope of this document.

   As with the Bundle protocol, this framework proposes to use IP in
   deep space with a similar store-and-forward paradigm.  Therefore, the
   IP layer has to deal with the fact that a destination may not be
   currently reachable and that IP packets could be stored for an
   unusual amount of time, such as minutes, hours, or days, in the
   forwarding device waiting for reachability back because of a new
   link-up opportunity.  The transport layer should be able to work with
   long and variable delays, including intermittent communications.  The
   application protocols and the applications themselves should be
   properly set to wait a longer time than on the current Internet to
   receive a response to a query.  Finally, all network services such as
   routing, security, naming, and network management should also be
   adapted to this new context.  This document is structured around
   these layers.

   The key characteristics of space communications and networking, its
   use case and its requirements are discussed in another
   document[I-D.many-tiptop-usecase].

1.1.  Document and Discussion Location

   The source of this document is located at
   https://github.com/marcblanchet/draft-deepspace-ip-architecture.
   Comments or changes are welcomed using a PR or an issue.

   This subject should be discussed on the deepspace@ietf.org mailing
   list.

2.  Layer 2 in Deep Space

2.1.  Celestial Body Surface

   The Interagency Operations Advisory Group (IOAG) [ioag] has defined
   the communications architecture for the Moon and Mars.  On the
   celestial body surface, it is planned to use 3GPP and Wi-Fi link
   layer protocols.  IP will be used over these link layers.










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2.2.  Deep Space Links

   Deep space links typically use the Consultative Committee for Space
   Data Standards (CCSDS) [CCSDSWEB] standards for link layers, such as
   Telecommand (TC) [CCSDS_TC], Telemetry (TM) [CCSDS_TM], Advanced
   Orbiting Systems (AOS) [CCSDS_AOS], Proximity1 (Prox1) [CCSDS_PROX1]
   or the Unified Space Data Link Protocol (USLP) [CCSDS_USLP].  CCSDS
   has defined a generic encapsulation mechanism for the payloads for
   all these link layer protocols with IP as an encapsulated protocol
   [IPoverCCSDSSpaceLinks] [SANAIPEHeaderRegistry].  Therefore, IP
   packets can be transported over any CCSDS link layers.

2.3.  Celestial Body Orbits

   For celestial body orbits, IOAG has planned the use of CCSDS link
   layer protocols.  However, as on Earth, it may be possible to use 6G-
   NTN technology around celestial bodies, such as in lunar or Martian
   orbits. 6G-NTN technologies use IP as its layer 3 technology.

3.  Internet Protocol

   IPv4 or IPv6 packets can be carried as is over long delays and
   disruptions, as IP has no notion of time.  Originally, the Time To
   Live (TTL) field of IPv4 was defined based on time [STD5], but it has
   been effectively implemented as a hop count, which was renamed as
   "Hop Count" in IPv6 [STD86].  Nothing needs to be changed to the IP
   protocol or its packet format.

3.1.  IP Forwarding and Store-and-Forward

   For deep space applications, an IP packet may need to be stored
   temporarily over much longer periods than are typical for the
   Internet when the next hop is currently unreachable or undefined,
   which can happen due to orbital dynamics.  This is commonly referred
   to as "store-and-forward" and bears no relationship to the same term
   when used regarding switch architectures.

   This store and forward mechanism may be implemented at layer 2 as is
   currently done by the Mars orbiters.  In this case, the frames are
   stored, regardless of payload type.  In this case, IP packets are
   unaware of the store-and-forward and no changes are needed in the IP
   forwarding function.  The L2 network is just behaving as a point-to-
   point link with a large and variable latency.

   If an IP forwarder has an interface on an intermittent link, and that
   link is down, some destinations may become unreachable when there is
   no alternate route.  In this case, the forwarder store the packets
   locally instead of dropping them.  This might be implemented as a



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   deep queue with active queue management (AQM) [RFC7567].  When the
   route to the destination is back, on the same link or a different
   link, maybe minutes or hours later, the stored packets can be
   transmitted.

   This store-and-forward mechanism requires proper provisioning of
   storage for the target deployment and usage.  If the storage is full,
   then packets must be dropped.  The choice of which packets to drop
   depends on the policies configured on the node, which may be a
   function of traffic class, source or destination IP addresses, flow
   labels, or other parameters.  An example is described in
   [I-D.blanchet-tvr-forwarding].

3.2.  Header Compression

   Deep space links are point-to-point links and bandwidth in space is
   very valuable, so header compression is very effective.  Static
   Context Header Compression (SCHC) [I-D.ietf-schc-architecture] is a
   header compression technique that relies on rules in a static context
   and is, therefore, more efficient for deep space.  SCHC should be
   considered on a deep space point-to-point link or a string of L2
   links.

4.  IP Addressing and Routing

4.1.  Addressing

   The IP address space is a hierarchical namespace where ranges of
   addresses are encoded as "prefixes".  Individual domains advertise
   prefixes to the broader Internet and assign these addresses
   internally.  Prefixes may be aggregated into less-specific prefixes,
   which makes the routing subsystem more efficient by decreasing
   overhead.

   Space networks provide a unique opportunity to provide extremely
   efficient routing by assigning a unique prefix or block of addresses
   per celestial body and its proximal orbits.  Management of the IP
   address space is currently documented in [RFC7020], but this only
   covers continental regions and does not provide for addressing for
   space.

   Address space for outer space should be managed by a Regional
   Internet Registry (RIR) and blocks of address space should be
   allocated for each celestial body of interest.  Space service
   providers should use prefixes assigned by this RIR.






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4.2.  Routing

   Existing routing protocols require proof of liveness between protocol
   partners, implemented through the periodic exchange of packets
   between partners.  This is impractical on long-delay or intermittent
   links, so a PCE [RFC4655] based approach seems appropriate for those
   domains possibly supplemented by contact plan
   schedules[I-D.ietf-tvr-schedule-yang].  Interconnection between
   domains can still be done with BGP [RFC4271], but long-delay or
   intermittent links should be avoided.  Domains straddling such links
   must provide proxy advertisements for prefixes reachable across such
   links.

   Optimal routing for domains with intermittent links is out of scope
   for this document.

   On the surface of celestial bodies and in proximal orbit, traditional
   protocols are applicable and should be used (e.g., [RFC9717]).

5.  Transport

5.1.  UDP

   UDP [RFC768] has no notion of time and, therefore can be used as-is
   in deep space.  Hence, protocols using UDP transport can be used in
   space as-is, if they do not rely on time or can be configured with
   timeouts appropriate in deep space.

5.2.  QUIC

   QUIC [RFC9000] like most IP transport protocols implements congestion
   control mechanisms, which, based on various metrics such as
   calculated delays or packet loss, pace the rate of sending packets at
   the source node to decrease the perceived congestion in the network.
   QUIC supports many new features suitable and useful in deep space
   such as 1 RTT for connection establishment and security, mobility, 0
   RTT, streams, user space, etc.  [TLI: This sentence needs more words
   to explain these references.]













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   Current implementations of QUIC typically set various transport
   configuration parameters suitable for the Internet environment,
   expecting an RTT to be in the hundreds of milliseconds and a normally
   always-connected network.  Therefore, QUIC stacks using default
   configurations will not work in deep space.  However, studies and
   simulations [quic-sim] showed that with proper configuration of
   parameters, QUIC stacks can support the delays and disruptions in
   deep space.  [I-D.many-deepspace-quic-profile] describes how to
   properly configure a QUIC stack for deep space applications, where
   QUIC is unaware of disruptions.  If the transport is aware of the
   disruptions, further optimizations are possible.

   Having multiple streams and applications within a single QUIC
   connection is valuable and useful for deep space.  A ground station
   may set up the initial QUIC connection with a spacecraft and then
   carry all needed applications and streams over that same connection
   for the whole duration of the mission.

   Session keys and certificate lifetimes together with certificate
   validation and trust chain anchors need to be carefully configured
   and handled.

   QUIC proxies [I-D.ietf-masque-quic-proxy] can be used at the edge of
   space to isolate, apply policies, or optimize traffic at the ingress/
   egress to a celestial body network.

5.3.  Other Transports

   Other transports such as TCP [RFC9293], SCTP [RFC9260], DCCP
   [RFC4340] and others were not investigated for their suitability in
   space.

6.  HTTP

   HTTP by itself has no notion of time.  An HTTP request and response
   may take minutes or hours to be completed.  However, current
   infrastructure and software on the Internet have various time-related
   configurations that will not work well in the deep space context.

   HTTP headers containing time, such as Cache-Control and Expires
   [RFC9111], should not be used or if used, must be set to large enough
   values to cover the longest delay so that expiration does not happen
   before the actual data arrives at the destination.  As with any HTTP
   application and content on the Internet, these headers should be set
   properly based on the deployment use case, which is even more
   important for deep space.  Similarly, when continuous content
   transfer is used, as with 100-Continue [RFC9110], proper values for
   headers should be set.



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   HTTP clients and servers typically have default timeouts that should
   be modified.  For example, curl [curl] has the "-m" option for this
   use case.  Similarly, HTTP server implementations have various
   timeout configuration variables that must be set properly.  Testing
   with HTTP client Curl and HTTP server nginx and an introduced network
   delay of minutes, hours and days showed[quic-sim] that HTTP
   communications work well with basic configuration changes.

   HTTP applications themselves must be developed using an asynchronous
   pattern and if they have timeouts, they should be adjusted
   appropriately.

   Internet websites are designed with the assumption of hundreds of
   milliseconds delay and relatively always connected, where pages
   contain multiple queries to get further resources, media, queries to
   web services, and downloading additional code and frameworks.  This
   could work in theory in space, but it will not be optimal, as
   multiple queries will be generated and therefore take multiple RTT
   before the whole page is received complete.  This issue can be
   mitigated by using various techniques such as Web Assembly [wasm] or
   pre-caching.  Moreover, it could be possible to have simple HTML
   pages with no or very few references and no media content that was
   not locally cached.  An example would be a rover on Mars presenting
   an HTTP server with a base and bare HTML page to offer basic info on
   its status (maybe all in text) and some additional detailed pages,
   most likely also in base HTML text.  However, it is foreseen that
   most applications based on QUIC-HTTP transport in deep space would be
   using REST or similar asynchronous patterns and not typical web
   browsing.

   Caching should be used extensively on space networks to maximize
   local fetching.  Preemptive caching by pre-populating caches with
   data that shall be used locally on the celestial body network shall
   be done as much as possible to provide better response time on the
   local celestial body network.

   QPACK [RFC9204] should be considered for higher bandwidth efficiency.

7.  Network services

7.1.  Naming

   For small-scale deployments, one can use IP addresses directly or a
   mapping from a name to an IP address such as /etc/hosts.  However,
   this does not provide easy dynamic updates, scaling by hierarchy,
   service discovery, authentication of records, etc.  Therefore, the
   Domain Name System (DNS) shall be considered early on in the space
   deployment.  However, naming hierarchy and infrastructure must be



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   carefully designed to avoid name resolution over deep space links,
   given that answers may come after minutes or hours.  There are clear
   advantages of having the space name hierarchy anchored to the current
   Internet root, as it enables DNSSEC through the same security
   infrastructure currently used and deployed.  Using the same root also
   does not require new policies.  A new TLD or a new root is way more
   complicated and does not bring any significant value compared to
   using the current domain tree.

   Care must be taken to manage key lifecycles and resource record
   lifetimes.  [I-D.many-dnsop-dns-isolated-networks] discusses the
   various methods and the naming hierarchy that should be used in
   space.

7.2.  Network Management

   NETCONF [RFC6241] and RESTCONF [RFC8040] shall be used with proper
   configuration values to avoid timeouts and appropriate transport.
   NETCONF over QUIC transport [I-D.ietf-netconf-over-quic] or RESTCONF
   over HTTP over QUIC transport shall be configured with appropriate
   QUIC transport parameters as discussed in Section 5.2.

   While being declared historic in IETF, SNMP[RFC1157] runs over UDP
   and has no notion of time.  Therefore, with proper configuration of
   client timeout, it can be used as is to manage nodes and services in
   deep space.

8.  IANA Considerations

   This memo includes no request to IANA.

9.  Security Considerations

   Using the current IP protocol stack in deep space inherits all the
   work on privacy, cryptography, key management, firewalls, and
   scrutiny of protocols that are deployed on the Internet.  As an
   example, TLS has been more carefully examined than almost any other
   secure transport protocol.  Moreover, given that no changes are made
   in the protocols, this architecture does not bring new security
   issues on the protocols themselves.  Deep space security requirements
   are different than on the existing Internet, but nothing has been
   found to prevent the conformance of the IP protocol stack to those
   requirements.

   As it is currently planned, the deep space network shall be isolated
   from the current Internet by an "air gap", to disable any direct
   communications from the Internet to deep space.  Moreover,
   destination IP prefix filtering shall be used to restrict the traffic



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   to only the relevant one for each link.  Note that this shall also be
   implemented in the routing control plane, but additional security
   might be appropriate to further protect the deep space links.

   Each celestial network edge device shall have firewall rules to
   prevent inappropriate traffic from entering deep space links.  If
   communications from Mars may only occur to Earth, but not to the
   Moon, then appropriate filtering based on destination IP prefixes
   shall be used.

   Storage in IP forwarders may become full by normal traffic or by
   malicious traffic that could become a denial-of-service attack.
   Appropriate policies and measures should be put in place in those
   forwarders to drop packets in advance to avoid the depletion of
   storage space and to mitigate such attacks.

10.  References

10.1.  Informative References

   [RFC768]   Postel, J., "User Datagram Protocol", STD 6, RFC 768,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC0768, August 1980,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc768>.

   [RFC1157]  Case, J., Fedor, M., Schoffstall, M., and J. Davin,
              "Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)", RFC 1157,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC1157, May 1990,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1157>.

   [RFC4271]  Rekhter, Y., Ed., Li, T., Ed., and S. Hares, Ed., "A
              Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4271, January 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4271>.

   [RFC4340]  Kohler, E., Handley, M., and S. Floyd, "Datagram
              Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP)", RFC 4340,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4340, March 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4340>.

   [RFC4655]  Farrel, A., Vasseur, J.-P., and J. Ash, "A Path
              Computation Element (PCE)-Based Architecture", RFC 4655,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4655, August 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4655>.

   [RFC4838]  Cerf, V., Burleigh, S., Hooke, A., Torgerson, L., Durst,
              R., Scott, K., Fall, K., and H. Weiss, "Delay-Tolerant
              Networking Architecture", RFC 4838, DOI 10.17487/RFC4838,
              April 2007, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4838>.



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   [RFC6241]  Enns, R., Ed., Bjorklund, M., Ed., Schoenwaelder, J., Ed.,
              and A. Bierman, Ed., "Network Configuration Protocol
              (NETCONF)", RFC 6241, DOI 10.17487/RFC6241, June 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6241>.

   [RFC7020]  Housley, R., Curran, J., Huston, G., and D. Conrad, "The
              Internet Numbers Registry System", RFC 7020,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7020, August 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7020>.

   [RFC7122]  Kruse, H., Jero, S., and S. Ostermann, "Datagram
              Convergence Layers for the Delay- and Disruption-Tolerant
              Networking (DTN) Bundle Protocol and Licklider
              Transmission Protocol (LTP)", RFC 7122,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7122, March 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7122>.

   [RFC7567]  Baker, F., Ed. and G. Fairhurst, Ed., "IETF
              Recommendations Regarding Active Queue Management",
              BCP 197, RFC 7567, DOI 10.17487/RFC7567, July 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7567>.

   [RFC8040]  Bierman, A., Bjorklund, M., and K. Watsen, "RESTCONF
              Protocol", RFC 8040, DOI 10.17487/RFC8040, January 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8040>.

   [RFC9000]  Iyengar, J., Ed. and M. Thomson, Ed., "QUIC: A UDP-Based
              Multiplexed and Secure Transport", RFC 9000,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9000, May 2021,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9000>.

   [RFC9110]  Fielding, R., Ed., Nottingham, M., Ed., and J. Reschke,
              Ed., "HTTP Semantics", STD 97, RFC 9110,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9110, June 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9110>.

   [RFC9111]  Fielding, R., Ed., Nottingham, M., Ed., and J. Reschke,
              Ed., "HTTP Caching", STD 98, RFC 9111,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9111, June 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9111>.

   [RFC9171]  Burleigh, S., Fall, K., and E. Birrane, III, "Bundle
              Protocol Version 7", RFC 9171, DOI 10.17487/RFC9171,
              January 2022, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9171>.

   [RFC9172]  Birrane, III, E. and K. McKeever, "Bundle Protocol
              Security (BPSec)", RFC 9172, DOI 10.17487/RFC9172, January
              2022, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9172>.



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   [RFC9174]  Sipos, B., Demmer, M., Ott, J., and S. Perreault, "Delay-
              Tolerant Networking TCP Convergence-Layer Protocol Version
              4", RFC 9174, DOI 10.17487/RFC9174, January 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9174>.

   [RFC9204]  Krasic, C., Bishop, M., and A. Frindell, Ed., "QPACK:
              Field Compression for HTTP/3", RFC 9204,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC9204, June 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9204>.

   [RFC9260]  Stewart, R., Tüxen, M., and K. Nielsen, "Stream Control
              Transmission Protocol", RFC 9260, DOI 10.17487/RFC9260,
              June 2022, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9260>.

   [RFC9293]  Eddy, W., Ed., "Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)",
              STD 7, RFC 9293, DOI 10.17487/RFC9293, August 2022,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9293>.

   [RFC9717]  Li, T., "A Routing Architecture for Satellite Networks",
              RFC 9717, DOI 10.17487/RFC9717, January 2025,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9717>.

   [STD5]     Internet Standard 5,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/std5>.
              At the time of writing, this STD comprises the following:

              Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC0791, September 1981,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc791>.

              Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol", STD 5,
              RFC 792, DOI 10.17487/RFC0792, September 1981,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc792>.

              Mogul, J., "Broadcasting Internet Datagrams", STD 5,
              RFC 919, DOI 10.17487/RFC0919, October 1984,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc919>.

              Mogul, J., "Broadcasting Internet datagrams in the
              presence of subnets", STD 5, RFC 922,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC0922, October 1984,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc922>.

              Mogul, J. and J. Postel, "Internet Standard Subnetting
              Procedure", STD 5, RFC 950, DOI 10.17487/RFC0950, August
              1985, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc950>.





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              Deering, S., "Host extensions for IP multicasting", STD 5,
              RFC 1112, DOI 10.17487/RFC1112, August 1989,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1112>.

   [STD86]    Internet Standard 86,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/std86>.
              At the time of writing, this STD comprises the following:

              Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
              (IPv6) Specification", STD 86, RFC 8200,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8200, July 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8200>.

   [I-D.blanchet-tvr-forwarding]
              Blanchet, M., "Forwarding in the context of Time-Variant
              Routing(TVR)", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-
              blanchet-tvr-forwarding-00, 13 March 2023,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-blanchet-tvr-
              forwarding-00>.

   [I-D.ietf-masque-quic-proxy]
              Pauly, T., Rosenberg, E., and D. Schinazi, "QUIC-Aware
              Proxying Using HTTP", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft,
              draft-ietf-masque-quic-proxy-04, 18 October 2024,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-masque-
              quic-proxy-04>.

   [I-D.ietf-netconf-over-quic]
              Dai, J., Yu, S., Cheng, W., Blanchet, M., and P.
              Andersson, "NETCONF over QUIC", Work in Progress,
              Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-netconf-over-quic-02, 25
              February 2025, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
              draft-ietf-netconf-over-quic-02>.

   [I-D.ietf-schc-architecture]
              Pelov, A., Thubert, P., and A. Minaburo, "Static Context
              Header Compression (SCHC) Architecture", Work in Progress,
              Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-schc-architecture-04, 6
              February 2025, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
              draft-ietf-schc-architecture-04>.

   [I-D.ietf-tvr-schedule-yang]
              Qu, Y., Lindem, A., Kinzie, E., Fedyk, D., and M.
              Blanchet, "YANG Data Model for Scheduled Attributes", Work
              in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-tvr-schedule-yang-
              03, 20 October 2024,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-tvr-
              schedule-yang-03>.



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   [I-D.many-deepspace-ip-assessment]
              Blanchet, M., Huitema, C., and D. Bogdanović, "Revisiting
              the Use of the IP Protocol Stack in Deep Space: Assessment
              and Possible Solutions", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft,
              draft-many-deepspace-ip-assessment-02, 10 September 2024,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-many-
              deepspace-ip-assessment-02>.

   [I-D.many-tiptop-usecase]
              Blanchet, M., Eddy, W., and M. Eubanks, "IP in Deep Space:
              Key Characteristics, Use Cases and Requirements", Work in
              Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-many-tiptop-usecase-00, 21
              February 2025, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
              draft-many-tiptop-usecase-00>.

   [I-D.many-deepspace-quic-profile]
              Blanchet, M., "QUIC Profile for Deep Space", Work in
              Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-many-deepspace-quic-
              profile-00, 19 October 2024,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-many-
              deepspace-quic-profile-00>.

   [I-D.many-dnsop-dns-isolated-networks]
              Blanchet, M., "Domain Name System in Mostly Isolated
              Networks", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-many-
              dnsop-dns-isolated-networks-01, 5 November 2023,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-many-dnsop-
              dns-isolated-networks-01>.

   [IPoverCCSDSSpaceLinks]
              Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems(CCSDS), "IP
              OVER CCSDS SPACE LINKS, Blue Book 702", September 2012,
              <https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/702x1b1c2.pdf>.

   [SANAIPEHeaderRegistry]
              "Internet Protocol Extension Header",
              <https://sanaregistry.org/r/ipe_header/>.

   [CCSDS_AOS]
              Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems(CCSDS), "AOS
              Space Data Link Protocol, Blue Book 732.0-B-4", October
              2021, <https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/732x0b4.pdf>.

   [CCSDS_TM] Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems(CCSDS), "TM
              Space Data Link Protocol, Blue Book 132.0-B-3", October
              2021, <https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/132x0b3.pdf>.





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   [CCSDS_TC] Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems(CCSDS), "TC
              Space Data Link Protocol, Blue Book 232.0-B-4", October
              2021, <https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/232x0b4e1c1.pdf>.

   [CCSDS_PROX1]
              Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems(CCSDS),
              "Proximity-1 Space Link Protocol—Data Link Layer, Blue
              Book 211.0-B-6", July 2020,
              <https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/211x0b6e1.pdf>.

   [CCSDS_USLP]
              Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems(CCSDS),
              "Unified Space Data Link Protocol, Blue Book 732.1-B-2",
              October 2021,
              <https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/732x1b2s.pdf>.

   [wasm]     World Wide Web Consortium(W3C), "WebAssembly
              Specifications", <https://github.com/webassembly/spec>.

   [ioag]     Lunar Communications Architecture Working Group,
              Interagency Operations Advisory Group, "The Future Lunar
              Communications Architecture, Report of the Interagency
              Operations Advisory Group", January 2022,
              <https://www.ioag.org/Public%20Documents/Lunar%20communica
              tions%20architecture%20study%20report%20FINAL%20v1.3.pdf>.

   [ioag-mars]
              Mars and Beyond Communications Architecture Working Group,
              Interagency Operations Advisory Group, "The Future Mars
              Communications Architecture, Report of the Interagency
              Operations Advisory Group", February 2022,
              <https://www.ioag.org/Public%20Documents/
              MBC%20architecture%20report%20final%20version%20PDF.pdf>.

   [curl]     "Curl", <https://curl.se>.

   [CCSDSWEB] CCSDS, "Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems",
              <https://ccsds.org>.

   [quic-sim] Blanchet, M., "Deep Space IP: Some simulation results",
              July 2024,
              <https://deepspaceip.github.io/meetings/ietf120/ietf120-
              deepspaceip-simulation-results.pdf>.








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Acknowledgements

   This work started by reassessing the use of the whole IP stack in the
   context of deep space discussed in [I-D.many-deepspace-ip-assessment]
   where early contributors are acknowledged.

   This document and its underlying work has been reviewed and discussed
   by many, who have provided valuable feedback and comments, including
   disagreements, and made an overall more solid document.  These people
   are, in no specific order: Padme Pillay-Esnault, Marius Feldmann,
   Britta Hale.

Authors' Addresses

   Marc Blanchet
   Viagenie
   Canada
   Email: marc.blanchet@viagenie.ca


   Wesley Eddy
   MTI Systems
   United States of America
   Email: wes@mti-systems.com


   Tony Li
   Juniper Networks
   United States of America
   Email: tony.li@tony.li





















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