Circumventing Censors: Censor-Proof Satellite Internet Grid

A group of computer enthusiasts have begun working on creating a satellite network that could be used to thwart censorship on the Internet.

Called the “Hackerspace Global Grid” (HGG), the network could provide a way for activists to access the Net when a repressive regime suppresses access within its borders.

The network would be based on a number of low orbiting “cube” satellites that would be networked in a way similar to the Internet. If one satellite were to be disabled, for example, its functions could be rerouted to others in the network.

Various amateur and educational organizations — HAM radio operators, for example — have found ways to get their cube satellites in orbit, and the hacker grid hopes to use those methods, as well as others, to get its spacecraft in low orbit too, according to Nick Farr, a hacker and accountant who is working on the project.

Cube Sat Explosion

“What we’re seeing right now is a big explosion in people launching cube sats,” Farr told TechNewsWorld.

Those satellites are small, have a near-earth orbit and have a small communication window with base stations on the ground.

To get a cube sat in the sky, amateur satellite launchers typically piggyback their bird on a bigger payload, Farr explained. Oftentimes launchers have more rocket than they need for their payload because of security, safety or some other reason. “So they’ll have room for lots of smaller payloads that they can detach in near earth orbit,” Farr said.

The HGG is now at its infancy stage. One of the first problems it has to solve is how to track the low orbiting satellites from the ground.

High orbiting satellites, like those used for telecommunications and geographic positioning, have a fixed position in the sky. That makes them easy to find from the ground.

The position of low orbiting satellites is more variable. What’s more, they’re moving fast, so the window for finding one and maintaining a connection to it is short.

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