In many envisaged satellite-based networks, such as constellations or federations, there often exists a desire to reduce data latency, increase delivered data volume, or simply exploit unused resources. A strategy is presented that achieves efficient routing of data, in a store-carry-forward fashion, through satellite networks that exhibit delay- and disruption-tolerant network characteristics. This network-layer protocol, termed Spae, exploits information about the schedule of future contacts between network nodes, because satellite motion is deterministic, along with the capacity of these contacts to route data in such a way as to avoid significant overcommitment of data along a resource limited journey. Results from simulations of a federated satellite system indicate consistent benefit in terms of network performance over other, less-sophisticated, conventional methods, and comparable performance to a packet-optimal, full-knowledge approach.
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