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Space operations are expanding along with cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

This cause and effect has several origination points, such as space-based capabilities providing integral support to military, commercial, and civilian applications.

Also, longstanding technological and cost barriers to space are falling, enabling more countries and commercial firms to participate in satellite construction, space launch, space exploration, and human spaceflight. Although these advancements are creating new opportunities, new risks for space-enabled services have emerged.

Space has also become more commercialized. The commercial space sector is involved in space launch, communications, space situational awareness, remote sensing, and even human spaceflight. These firms not only supply products to governments, but they also compete commercially.

Unquestionably, the number of objects on orbit will continue to increase rapidly with the wider availability of lower cost, small satellites and with the prospect of large constellations consisting of thousands of satellites.

Space capabilities have become central to many military operations, including missile warning, geolocation and navigation, target identification, and tracking of adversary activities. The military and intelligence collection capabilities that government and commercial remote sensing satellites provide is reducing the ability of all countries to remain undetected while performing sensitive testing and evaluation activities or military exercises and operations.

This, of course, is the perfect backdrop for U.S. adversaries to use space and cyber means to deny the effectiveness of the United States. China and Russia, in particular, are known to be developing a variety of means to exploit perceived U.S. reliance on space-based systems and challenge the U.S. position in space.

Such are the challenges of the relatively new position of space security specialist. Although the space security specialist faces some of the same security issues as in other industries, space systems are met with a unique confluence of cybersecurity risks that complicates the sector’s remediation capabilities.

Well trained space security specialists are crucial today because changing a password every few months and hoping for the best isn’t good enough for the protection of a satellite that people around the globe rely on.

Want to know more? Tonex offers Certified Space Security Specialist Professional (CSSSP) training, a 5-day course that is ideal for space and security practitioners, analysts, engineers, managers and executives interested in proving their knowledge across space security practices and principles.

Our Space Operations and Cybersecurity courses also include:

Fundamentals of Positioning, Navigation and Timing | PNT Training (2 days)

Space Mission Systems Engineering Training (2 days)

Space Systems Engineering Fundamentals (2 days)

For more information, questions, comments, contact us.

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