Cisco has made what it says is the first ever VoIP call from space, without the use of any terrestrial infrastructure to route the call.
The company has completed latest round of its Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) testing, also making the first software upgrade of an IP router on a commercial satellite in orbit.
Current satellite technology relies on ground hubs to convey data signals to users. IRIS aims to remove the double-hop requirement to allow voice and data traffic to be transmitted more efficiently.
The IRIS project is part of a larger satellite development initiative, that includes the development of a radiation-tolerant space router specifically designed for use in orbit.
The first of these routers was installed in Intelsat 14, which launched in November last year.
Cisco in July signed a partnership with European satellite company Astrium Services to collaborate on the project. The pair demonstrated multicasting over IRIS in October.
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