| | | | Steely Newsletter Issue #016 |
| Read all about how AST SpaceMobile successfully transmitted a 4G LTE signal from space to a smartphone in Hawaii, a breakthrough in satellite data transmission using free-space lasers, a Russian hacker allegedly gaining access to a US military satellite and so much more! |
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| | The Verge | Wes Davis | 06-21-2023 AST SpaceMobile successfully transmitted a 4G LTE signal from space to a smartphone in Hawaii. BlueWalker3 (BW3) is the company's satellite that beamed the signal at speeds of up to 10.3Mbps, which is fast enough for some video streaming, general internet use, and ordinary cell phone usage. AST SpaceMobile says this is a "world first," and the company plans to conduct a 5G connection test next. The company's goal is to create a space-based cellular broadband network that can be accessed by standard smartphones. This would provide connectivity to people in areas where cellular coverage is unreliable or nonexistent. |
| ETH Zurich | Daniel Meierhans | 06-20-2023 Scientists at ETH Zurich have demonstrated terabit optical data transmission through the air in a European Horizon 2020 project. The experiment was conducted between the Jungfraujoch mountain peak and the city of Bern, Switzerland, over a distance of 53 kilometers. The researchers used a new modulation format that is more robust to atmospheric turbulence. They also used a MEMS chip with a matrix of 97 tiny adjustable mirrors to correct the phase shift of the beam. The results of the experiment are a breakthrough, as they show that it is possible to achieve terabit data rates over long distances using free-space lasers. This could have a major impact on the future of satellite internet, as it would allow for much faster and more reliable connections. |
| Forbes | Loren Thompson | 06-20-2023 Boeing is embracing the overarching goals for national-security space set forth by the Pentagon, and is shifting its culture to match its customer's expectations. The company is proposing a layered, networked architecture of satellites in low, medium and geosynchronous orbits, and is challenging traditional ideas with low-cost satellites for MEO that can be deployed in any orbital regime. The company also favors a panoply of defensive measures to complement the resiliency of satellites in diverse orbits, such as disaggregation of missions and payloads, diversification of spacecraft types, active protection of spacecraft, proliferation of low-cost satellites, and various deceptive techniques to mask the location of spacecraft.These techniques can be supplemented with offensive efforts in other warfighting domains that weaken the anti-satellite capabilities of adversaries. |
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🛡️Satellite Cybersecurity News |
| HackRead | Waqas | 06-21-2023 A hacker on a Russian-language hacker forum is offering access to a military satellite operated by Maxar Technologies for $15,000. Maxar is a Colorado-based space technology company that specializes in manufacturing satellites for communication, Earth observation, radar, and on-orbit servicing. The hacker claims that the access would allow buyers to gain sensitive information about the US military and strategic positioning. The authenticity of these claims cannot be verified. |
| Tech Briefs | Woodrow Bellamy | 06-21-2023 Phosphorous is a company trying to establish a new approach to cyber-securing satellites and other critical space assets. Their approach to protecting satellites and other assets is to automate the process of remediating IoT and network device vulnerabilities to include out-of-date firmware, default credentials, and risky configurations, among others. Sonu Shankar, VP of Product Management at Phosphorous, explained why cybersecurity risks to satellites will continue to be a concern for government and industry. He believes that targeting satellites for cyberattacks can provide a significant strategic advantage for conventional kinetic warfare, especially when they are launched in concert with invasions on the ground. He also believes that IoT attacks will increase in quantity in the future, as IoT devices are often overlooked or ignored despite being the most diverse attack surface. |
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🏛️US Government Satellite News |
| Space News | Sandra Erwin | 06-22-2023 The U.S. Space Force is requesting a record $30.3 billion budget for 2024, with a significant portion of that going towards next-generation nuclear command and control satellites. These satellites will be different from their predecessors in a number of ways, including the number of satellites in the constellation and the roles they will play. The Space Force is also advocating for more spacecraft in lower orbits, although it will continue to rely on higher orbit systems for many missions. This is a departure from how the DoD has historically carried out these missions, and it is one that has been met with some congressional scrutiny. |
| Space News | Sandra Erwin | 06-05-2023 Digital twins are gaining traction in the military space industry as DoD plans the next generation of space systems. Companies like Sedaro and Istari are developing software that can be used to design, test, and certify satellites through modeling and simulation. These digital twins are a high-fidelity virtual representation of the physical system that exists throughout its entire lifecycle. They can be used to optimize how satellites are used, find vulnerabilities, and do predictive maintenance. |
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