FAROS
A communication network that lives entirely in orbit, from the satellites that relay traffic to the backbone above them and the satellites that store data. The long-term aim is a network that rearranges itself autonomously and serves space object identification, cargo transfer, photon-based communication, and human missions.
- AuthorAthanasia Nikolova, June 2026
- MentorDr. Nick Koukoufilippas. Oxford University, Department of Physics, through the Horizon Academic Research Program
- PublishedNational High School Journal of Science, October 2026. Peer-reviewed.
F A R O S
FAROS is a system for near Space management. My research proposes the synergy of satellites and backbones dispersed across orbits at different altitudes.
Because FAROS is multistrom, a route is not confined to one altitude. The network treats every stroma as a single connected medium, and data follow whichever path across them has the lowest end-to-end delay. Climbing to a higher stroma removes hops but lengthens the path, so whether it is faster depends on how expensive a hop is: above 6.80 ms of processing per satellite the higher stroma wins, below it the lower one does.
FAROS is the Greek word for lighthouse. I consider Space the greatest ocean. FAROS will give us hope, navigation, and a clear place to sail. FAROS will be a Sun not so distant from Earth, and we will make use of its light.
I have dreamt, and developed FAROS only in its theoretical form. Now, I want to implement it. Implementation requires more research and researchers. What you can see here is only FAROS 1: the establishment of a neat, well-organized near Space.
In the future, I imagine myself having space infrastructure and cooperating with lots of scientists and politicians. I consider politics as powerful as economy when it comes to science. I would be pleased to develop or even establish the science of Spacepolitics because my research points toward it. For me, Space must be separated from geopolitics because in Space there is nothing to create borders that distinguish property, and create conflicts. Space belongs to all, and I want to cooperate with all.