[arin-ppml] Addressing for other planets

[John Curran]

> On Feb 22, 2026, at 2:03 AM, Tony Li <tony.li at tony.li> wrote:
> 
>> Now the world is a dynamic place, and as a result, let’s hypothecate some of the questions that arise in the early years of operation –
> 
> All of the points that you make below are largely the same as for any ISP.  I don’t see why you’re making this molehill into a mountain.  I get that they are important and I acknowledge that they will take work, but I don’t see them as a serious impediment.

The points raised may be the same for any ISP, but only when the outcome for each point lies entirely within that ISP are they not governance matters for the Internet number registry system –  I.e., if you were indeed suggesting that there be a “Deep Space Consortia ISP” and that this consortia apply to one of the existing RIRs for a large IPv6 allocation and then handle its own governance, then indeed you would be correct: it would be "largely the same as for any ISP.”

However, your Internet-Draft proposes that there be a new RIR for Outer Space (or that an existing RIR serve this role) and that "The RIR for outer space should operate in a manner similar to other  RIRs, allocating address space to qualified requests for those  operating or with credible, demonstrable near-term plans for operating in Outer Space.”   As such, all of the points I noted are indeed RIR governance questions, and therefore are quite different than the issues posed to Internet Numbers Registry System than those posed by any ISP’s own governance. 

> I get that you don’t wanna do this. I don’t understand why.


Apologies - if I gave the impression that ARIN doesn’t want to do this (or for that matter, than ARIN does want to do this), then the fault is entirely mine.  Personally, I have no view on whether or not ARIN should serve a role in the “RIR for Outer Space”; that is something that I will be informed of by the ARIN community and ARIN’s Board of Trustees. 

I do feel strong that whatever happens with respect to the Internet numbers registry system be done properly, and that’s likely what you are sensing.  My reasoning for such in that we’ve had to work quite hard to achieve clear and accountable multistakeholder self-governance for the general purpose Internet number registries, and there’s quite a few structural elements to be maintained properly if we’re to keep it that way. 

Thanks,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers