Demystifying futuristic satellite networks: requirements, security threats, and issues

Providing high-speed Internet to connect anything in the globe anywhere at any time is becoming the need of future societies, which are built on the smart city concepts. As a pragmatic approach, an integration of terrestrial and satellite networks is proposed for leveraging the combined benefits of both complementary technologies. In addition, with the quest of exploring deep space and connecting solar system planets with the Earth, the traditional satellite network has gone beyond the geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) wherein interplanetary Internet will play a key role. To this end, futuristic satellite networks will be an integration of inter-satellite and deep space network (ISDSN), which on the one hand will connect thousands of entities on the Earth together and on the other hand will connect deep space satellites with the Earth and solar planets. This chapter demystifies such dynamic networks and classifies them into different tiers. Most importantly, for each tier, we discuss the key requirements, research challenges, and potential security threats. Finally, we present open issues and new research directions in this emerging area of futuristic satellite networks.