Deep Space Working Group                                           T. LiInternet-Draft                                Hewlett Packard EnterpriseUpdates: 7020 (if approved)                                   M. EubanksIntended status: Standards Track                       Space InitiativesExpires: 8 August 2026                                   4 February 2026                    IP Address Space for Outer Space                    draft-li-tiptop-address-space-01Abstract   The exploration of outer space depends heavily upon communications   technology and in many cases, uses IP.  IP address allocation has   been formally assigned to Regional Internet Registries (RIRs), but   there is no formal allocation of address space for networks in outer   space.   This document describes updates existing address allocation   procedures to include address space for outer space.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   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."   This Internet-Draft will expire on 8 August 2026.Copyright Notice   Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the   document authors.  All rights reserved.   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 ComponentsLi & Eubanks              Expires 8 August 2026                 [Page 1]Internet-Draft             IP for Outer Space              February 2026   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   2.  Efficient Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2   3.  Per Body Address Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3   4.  Administration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4   7.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   41.  Introduction   The exploration of outer space depends heavily upon communications   technology and in many cases, uses IP.  IP address allocation was   formally assigned to Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) by [RFC7020]   for each continent, but no provision was made to reserve address   space for outer space.  As a result, address space for missions to   outer space will likely be allocated by the various space agencies on   a a per-mission basis, resulting in a haphazard patchwork.  As   connectivity in outer space improves, this address allocation will   prevent effective address aggregation, resulting in inefficient   routing for all parties.   Historically, addressing in the IPv4 address space prior to the   introduction of CIDR was done in a similar manner.  This has led to a   very large number of unaggregated /24 prefixes distributed globally   that is colloquially known as "the swamp".  This has contributed to   the IPv4 routing table's growth of up to a million prefixes as of   this writing.  This document proposes avoiding a repeat of this for   outer space by having a consistent and aggregatable address   allocation plan.2.  Efficient Routing   Address aggregation was first documented in [RFC1518].  Aggregation   allows the combining of multiple address prefixes that are closely   topologically related into a single, less-specific, prefix.  Carrying   fewer prefixes in the global routing infrastructure to cover the same   amount of deployed address space is advantageous because it decreases   routing protocol overhead, forwarding table space, and router CPU   cycles.  All of these resources will be in short supply in outer   space, so it benefits everyone to have routing be done efficiently.Li & Eubanks              Expires 8 August 2026                 [Page 2]Internet-Draft             IP for Outer Space              February 2026   To understand how to aggregate prefixes in outer space, we need to   anticipate what the topology of the networks in space will eventually   become.  The historical growth of the Internet can help us in this   regard.  As we can see from today's Internet topology, we have very   good connectivity on land on most continents, where links are   relatively easily deployed.  Continents are inter-connected by far   fewer submarine fibers that cover larger distances and are much   harder to deploy than land-based fiber.  We can generalize this   observation and expect to see links where they are easier and cheaper   to deploy, with fewer links in expensive, hard-to-deploy situations.   In outer space then, we might expect that connectivity in and around   celestial bodies will be much more common than links between bodies.   Due to this expected topological relationship, and the desire to   aggregate around topologically related networks, we should then   expect that aggregation will be easiest around celestial bodies.3.  Per Body Address Allocation   To enable aggregation around celestial bodies, we would then like to   have a prefix per celestial body.  The following regions should each   receive a prefix:   *  The moon and its environs   *  Earth's Lagrange points   *  The asteroid belt   *  Each other planet   *  Other regions not covered by the above4.  Administration   Administration of the IP address space for outer space should be done   in much the same manner as is being done today by RIRs, according to   the priniciples laid out in [RFC8720].  This document requests that   IANA work with the Internet numbers registry community to provide for   issuance of general purpose IP number resources for outer space in   accordance with this document.  Because the amount of address space   needed for outer space is minimal for the immediate future, one way   to accomplish this would for one of the existing RIRs to manage the   address space.  Creating a separate, new RIR is also acceptable, but   would seem to be organizationally less efficient.Li & Eubanks              Expires 8 August 2026                 [Page 3]Internet-Draft             IP for Outer Space              February 2026   The RIR for outer space should operate in a manner similar to other   RIRs, allocating address space to qualified requests for those   operating or with credible, demonstrable near-term plans for   operating in Outer Space.  The RIR should have a single address space   for all of outer space, and from the block allocate smaller blocks   for each celestial body.  Allocations for each request should come   from the relevant block for the celestial body.  In the case where   there are multiple operators per body, this would then result in a   set of prefixes from each operator, all from one common block for the   body.5.  Security Considerations   This document creates no new security issues.6.  IANA Considerations   This document requests that IANA work with the Internet numbers   registry community to provide for issuance of general purpose IP   number resources for outer space in accordance with this document.7.  Normative References   [RFC1518]  Rekhter, Y. and T. Li, "An Architecture for IP Address              Allocation with CIDR", RFC 1518, DOI 10.17487/RFC1518,              September 1993, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1518>.   [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>.   [RFC8720]  Housley, R., Ed. and O. Kolkman, Ed., "Principles for              Operation of Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)              Registries", RFC 8720, DOI 10.17487/RFC8720, February              2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8720>.Authors' Addresses   Tony Li   Hewlett Packard Enterprise   Email: tony.li@tony.li   Marshall Eubanks   Space Initiatives   Email: tme@space-initiatives.comLi & Eubanks              Expires 8 August 2026                 [Page 4]