Satellite Network Architecture Performance: Setting the Stage for Bio-Inspired Network Design

Satellite networks, here defined as groups of artificial satellites where the satellites are interconnected by communications links, are increasing in size, number, and criticality. As humanity’s reliance on these networks grows, so too does the need for these networks to be resistant against and quickly recover from disturbances, that is, they need to be resilient. Prior work has found that human networks such as supply chains, water distribution networks, and power grids can improve their resilience by mimicking biological food webs in their design. This paper investigates whether satellite network architectures can also benefit from this bioinspired system approach. The performance of five hypothetical-realistic satellite network case studies is quantified here using global instantaneous coverage, architectural accuracy, and in-network latency. These performance attributes are then compared to the architectural characteristics of biological food webs using ecological network analysis (ENA) metrics, relating species and their predator-prey interactions in a food web to interactions between satellites in a satellite network. The findings suggest that the most biosimilar satellite network architecture of the five case studies was also the overall best performing. Further research is needed to understand whether the bioinspired design route can improve both the performance and resilience of critical space networks.