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Space Communications Hardware

Skynet Means More Bandwidth for British 66

Posted by Zonk from the please-don't-become-sentient dept.
pcnetworx1 writes "A new £3.6bn project to upgrade the space communications network for British forces including the Army, Royal Navy, and RAF has gone underway. The first craft, Skynet 5A was launched from Kourou in French Guiana on 11 March 2007. There will be a constellation of three satellites in total. This system is also not an exclusive project for the armed forces, it is actually outsourced to a company called Paradigm Secure Communications. They work with NATO, France, Germany, Canada, Portugal and the Netherlands. They are also seeking new business in the US, Australia, and the Middle East."
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Skynet Means More Bandwidth for British More

Skynet Means More Bandwidth for British

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  • The soldiers now can play Counter Strike really well with less lag!

    (No terminator jokes this time though, that was when it was launched a few weeks ago)

  • Skynet.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ramble ( 940291 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @04:51PM (#19098651) Homepage

    20.38: Skynet becomes aware

    20.39: Skynet gives more bandwidth

    20.40: ????

    20.41: Profit!

  • Now we know why! (Score:3, Funny)

    by isotope23 ( 210590 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @04:57PM (#19098695) Homepage Journal
    Now we know why Skynet loses, the terminators were all searching for Bot-Pr0n!!

  • Skyyyyynet (Score:5, Funny)

    by wakaranai ( 87059 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @05:07PM (#19098777)
    1969: Series of UK military satellites called "Skynet" first launched

    1997: Skynet, a neural net-based artificial intelligence built by Cyberdyne Systems,
    brought online and given control over the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal

    2007: UK military ridiculed for choice of name for latest high-bandwidth series of "Skynet" satellites

    Time travel's a bitch..

  • I predict... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Safiire Arrowny ( 596720 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @05:09PM (#19098787) Homepage
    ...90% of slashdotters are coming to this article to either make a terminator joke or to read other people's terminator jokes.

    • Re:I predict... (Score:5, Funny)

      by hclyff ( 925743 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @05:16PM (#19098851)
      While 8% are coming to complain about people making terminator jokes or to read about said complaining. Remaining 2% are those who genuinely thought the article is dealing with Terminator.
    • I will freely admit that when I saw the headline I was quite eager to click and read terminator references...or post one myself if not every possible angle had not already been exhausted!

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Flamsmark ( 876165 )
        I've been hitting F5 for ten minutes, and still not even a single good terminator joke. I'm disappointed, people.
    • I actually can't believe the top tags right now consist of "communications, hardware, space," I would have expected "terminator, connor, ill_be_back..." or others to that effect. Honestly, maybe I'm just a little ignorant, but I never knew there was a real-life Skynet, even though Wikipedia tell me the first rocket was launched in 1969. Ah well, [[generic terminator reference #4419]].
    • Your levity is good. It relieves tension and the fear of death.
    • You are right. My first thought was, "I wonder if there are any good Terminator jokes." My second thought was, "I wonder if I can post a Terminator joke that hasn't already been mentioned."

  • All this technology... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MrSteveSD ( 801820 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @05:15PM (#19098845)

    Skynet Means More Bandwidth for British...

    They are also seeking new business in the US, Australia and the Middle East.


    ...and yet Ahmed Connor still eludes them.

  • Terminator's Accent Confirmed (Score:4, Funny)

    by weinrich ( 414267 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @05:37PM (#19099007)
    I'm finally vindicated after all these years! Everyone kept claiming the Terminator's accept was Austrian, or some such rot, but I knew it was British.
  • It is very interesting to see this technology being used by several nations and across political spectra (free world, communist world..etc). Sure, China won't get it's satellite comm systems straight from the US, but I will bet you anything that western states allied against certain blocks of nations will direct limited amounts of tech into Chinese (and other) hands, through the French for example. The common tech may seem like an advantage to the enemy, but just think what could happen if all of China's gr

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by eonlabs ( 921625 )
      You do realize that a lot of nations who disagree with western politics are infact developing their own space agencies, their own semiconductor industries, and are working their way to becoming technological world powers if they're not already considered political world powers.

      "Sure, China won't get it's satellite comm systems straight from the US, but I will bet you anything that western states allied against certain blocks of nations will direct limited amounts of tech into Chinese (and other) hands"

      Hints

  • Router in the Sky (Score:4, Insightful)

    by thaig ( 415462 ) on Saturday May 12, 2007 @06:54PM (#19099523) Homepage
    The interesting part is that it's ip aware and is basically a big router in the sky. This is new-ish stuff. It has other cool tech but software people wouldn't be terribly interested in e.g. the snazzy electronically steerable antenna etc.

    It's a slight shame the Hollywood has given everyone unrealistic expectations of, among other things, the state of the art in military satellite systems. It's rather like the Stealth Fighter - an awesome achievement despite the fact that it was far from having the all-aspect stealth that it is generally portrayed to have. Another example would be those f***ng moronic films where someone breaks "128-bit encryption" in 60 seconds because he has a gun to his head (or whatever).

    The interesting part of it is that Satellites of the Skynet 4 era need teams of people to fly them and make constant adjustments to their orientation and orbit but that commercial satellite tech has become so good now that one person can fly many satellites and each satellite can manage itself for up to 28 days. I never knew how much effort it was until hearing this.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Randseed ( 132501 )

      Another example would be those f***ng moronic films where someone breaks "128-bit encryption" in 60 seconds because he has a gun to his head (or whatever).
      But he was getting a blowjob from a hot blonde (albeit with fake tits) at the time for "motivation." You can't leave that out. It's the most important part here at Slashdot!

      • Uncharted territory (Score:4, Interesting)

        by cheros ( 223479 ) on Sunday May 13, 2007 @01:03AM (#19101397)
        You're absolutely right - it's the ONE thing that makes that hacking different from the regular approach.

        Personally, I think this is a completely overlooked field (which is understandable as they're all under the table). I think we should immediately seek Congressional funding and investigate if being in physical symbiosis with an attractive member of the opposite sex improves crypto and code breaking performance (I'm using 'physical symbiosis' to indicate that such research shouldn't be limited to just one specific approach - be thorough).

        Who knows, Clinton may have simply been ahead of his time 8-).

        • Who knows, Clinton may have simply been ahead of his time 8-).
          Well, he was definately a little a head of his time. ;)
    • The interesting part is that it's ip aware..

      That's only 2 steps away from self-aware, right?

      I know, I know...

    • Another example would be those f***ng moronic films where someone breaks "128-bit encryption" in 60 seconds because he has a gun to his head (or whatever).

      I always thought it was ironic that any encryption Hollywood depends on like CSS or AACS seems to get broken so quickly. Maybe they think that it's supposed to be like that.
  • Remember to duck and cover when they come
  • Skynet Means More Bandwidth for British

    What happened to grammar? If it was about Americans, would it read "Skynet Means More Bandwidth for American"? I wouldn't have a problem with it if it said "the British", but that is not the case. It just reads as though the last part of the sentence (which would have been 'forces') has been sliced off.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      Well, in this case, "British" (unlike "American") is a plural noun. So it would actually be akin to "Skynet Means More Bandwidth for Americans." And while that is a little on the informal side, it is perfectly fine for a headline.
  • of the company that created the Treminator? Great name! ;-) smp

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