Emerging Cybersecurity Threats to LEO Assets: Incentives for Market-Driven Cyber Defense (White Paper)

The escalation of cyber risk to space systems poses an existential threat to U.S. security and democracy. Computer network exploitation and attack undermine the confidentiality, integrity, and reliability of data systems in an age where disinformation campaigns distort public perception of truth and corrupt governing institutions.

As the space industry makes rapid advances, cybersecurity policy is struggling to keep pace. The proliferation of low-Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites has democratized space, hosting an array of new actors and creating an urgent demand for commercial governance. U.S. policy has explicitly acknowledged both cybersecurity and space as critical discussions but has not fused them in an integrated assessment of cyber vulnerabilities in space. This paper examines the cyber threat landscape across LEO assets and offers policy recommendations for cyber governance in the commercial space market.

Carly Glickenhaus is a senior in the College studying Economics. She is a member of GUSI’s Launch Team.