The ‘Network’ is the colloquial term used to describe a huge network of satellites and unmanned sensor stations/relays positioned throughout the galaxy and controlled by the United State of the Americas Aerospace Command. This vast communications network serves three primary roles:
- Communications relays and data hubs, maintaining vital communications links between Earth and the Colonies. News bulletins and other video transmissions are often transmitted via the network in 5-10-minute chunks.
- Navigational beacons, helping ships traverse the vast distances between the stars as well as distributing updated mapping data for navigation.
- Sensor stations, tracking ship movement and providing early warning of rogue asteroids and ships in trouble.
The Network is a two-tiered system. The most comprehensive and powerful features are exclusively for the use of the US Government and military (and selected allies), and includes special architecture for collecting signals intelligence for organisations like the NSA and CIA.
Space Command also permits access to other governments, and corporate clients, to a ‘cut down’ version of the Network. This is a more limited, but still incredibly useful, tool (this is along the same lines as the Global Positioning System back in the 20th century).
Other nations and private Corporations have created their own similar networks, but none of them are as large or comprehensive as the United State of the Americas one, and so it has become the default choice for most smaller nations and Corporations.
Recently the Asian Confederation has unveiled plans for their own network based on the same architecture but vastly reducing communication times to just minutes/hours as opposed to the days/weeks that it can be with the United State of the Americas system (based on range and location).