Delay Tolerant Networking Testbed

About This Project

Implement store and forward networking between multiple ground stations and the satellite using a DTN style protocol. Measure delivery success, latency, and packet loss under intermittent contact windows.

Overview

Communication between a ground station and a low Earth orbit satellite is inherently intermittent. The satellite is only visible for a few minutes per pass, and passes may be separated by hours. Delay Tolerant Networking — originally developed for deep space communication — is designed specifically for this kind of disrupted, delay-prone connectivity. Instead of requiring an end-to-end connection like traditional internet protocols, DTN stores messages at each node, carries them through disconnection periods, and forwards them when the next contact opportunity arises. This experiment implements a DTN protocol stack on the satellite and coordinates with multiple ground stations that act as network nodes. A message injected at one ground station gets uploaded to the satellite during a pass, carried in orbit, and delivered to a different ground station on a subsequent pass — potentially on the other side of the country or the world. The experiment measures delivery success rates, end-to-end latency, and how the protocol handles partial transfers when a contact window ends mid-transmission. The result is a validated reference implementation and performance dataset for CubeSat DTN operations — useful for the growing community of university satellite operators who want to share ground station infrastructure.

Technical Details

Implement Bundle Protocol (RFC 5050) or simplified store-and-forward protocol on PyCubed. Multiple ground stations (3-5 university ham stations or SatNOGS nodes) act as DTN nodes. Satellite stores received bundles, carries them in orbit, delivers to next ground station contact. Measure: delivery success rate, end-to-end latency, packet loss under varying contact durations, bundle fragmentation/reassembly reliability. Compare DTN performance against simple FTP-style file transfer. Publish performance dataset and reference implementation.

Research & Notes

DTN is a NASA-developed protocol for deep space communications — tested on ISS and various missions. University of Bologna demonstrated DTN on CubeSat platform. Key challenge: PyCubed CircuitPython may lack networking stack maturity — may need C/C++ implementation for protocol efficiency. Contact windows at LEO are short (~5-12 minutes per pass) — protocol must handle incomplete transfers gracefully. Multiple ground stations required for meaningful DTN testing — SatNOGS network (global, open-source) provides ready infrastructure. Cost: $0-$500 (software + ground station coordination). Complexity: intermediate — networking protocol implementation requires systems programming skill.

Required Disciplines

This project spans 2 disciplines, making it suitable for interdisciplinary student teams.

Next Steps

Ready to take on this project? Here's a general roadmap that applies to most CubeSat missions:

1. Build your foundation: Complete the core modules in the CubeSat Academy to understand spacecraft subsystems, mission design, and development workflows.
2. Form a team: Recruit students across the required disciplines and identify a faculty advisor. Plan for knowledge transfer between graduating and incoming members.
3. Write a mission concept: Draft a 1–2 page document outlining your objectives, target orbit, payload requirements, and success criteria.
4. Connect with a chapter: Join a Blackwing chapter for mentorship, shared resources, and access to the platform ecosystem.
5. Explore the developer tools: Visit the Developer Portal for platform documentation, SDKs, and hardware specs.
6. Plan your timeline: Map milestones to your academic calendar. Most projects align well with a 2–4 semester capstone or research sequence.
7. Reach out: Contact us to discuss your project goals, platform selection, and path to orbit.