NSF Award
2208458
Outer space assets are critical to modern life, such as for GPS positioning, financial-services connectivity, surveillance of disaster areas, and global communications. Their strategic importance and physical distance from Earth make them particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. This threat increases over time with technological advances and the accelerating pace of space activities. Much of these activities are conducted without public comment on cybersecurity risks. The stakes become even higher given that more space debris could be created by cyberattacks, either deliberately or unintentionally. These attacks could threaten safe orbits and launches. Thus, understanding these risk scenarios, from technical and policy perspectives, is essential to understand and mitigate cyber vulnerabilities in space. In doing so, the project is a contribution to national security, economic stability, and public safety.<br/> <br/>This project offers a broad set of scenarios and taxonomy on how cyberattacks could occur with space technologies, including novel or rare threats. Because space law is still under-developed, the study includes an analysis of the ethical, legal, and policy issues and gaps that arise from multiple risk scenarios. With a team of ethicists and technologists, the project is interdisciplinary. The project is also guided through a workshop for additional domain expertise in space systems architecture, space law, and cyber law. The goal is to deliver a public report, citizen outreach, and student learning about space cybersecurity, ethics, and policy. Through this effort, the project aims to protect the vital space domain from the damage of cyberattacks that have plagued other domains important to human life.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
