WASHINGTON: Not enough is being done either in government policy or by manufacturers to protect and monitor satellites from cyber attacks, says the redoubtable Aerospace Corp.

The FFRDC says in a new report that: “Neither space policy nor cybersecurity policy is prepared for the challenges created by the meshing of space and cyberspace, especially for the spacecraft.”

To be clear, we are not only taking about military satellites here, but everything in space owned by the US and its allies, because enemies will doubtless target commercial satellites providing communications, eyes on targets and other sensor data.

“With the expanding list of threat actors and increase in awareness of vulnerabilities and adversary capabilities, all sectors of the space domain need to invest in improving the cybersecurity of space systems, especially onboard the spacecraft,” the Aerospace Corp. authors write.

As Breaking D readers know, cybersecurity for space systems has become a major concern not just within the Air Force and the Pentagon, but all the way up the government food chain to the National Security Council (NSC). The NSC’s Cybersecurity Directorate has recently thrown its weight behind a public-private partnership, called the Space Information Analysis and Sharing Center (Space-ISAC) aimed squarely at cyber protection for satellites.

Indeed, as we reported back in July, Air Force Space Command’s head of operations and communications, Brig. Gen. DeAnna Burt, has warned that China is stealing the US military and defense contractors blind via cyber intrusions, especially in the space arena.

Aerospace Corp. recommend these measures to better protect these crucial assets, which the Air Force never ceases to tell us are now at risk in the event of war: