Towards a Unified Research Community for the Cybersecurity of Space Systems

Bringing together researchers, government organizations, national laboratories, and industry to define the next research challenges in space systems cybersecurity.

About the Workshop

Space systems are critical infrastructure. As their proliferation continues and they expand further into commercial and civilian use, academic contributions remain sporadic because of high barriers to entry and limited visibility into operational systems. This is a missed opportunity, as academic expertise has historically played a pivotal role in advancing the security and resilience of critical infrastructure.

This workshop brings together researchers in space systems cybersecurity with government and industry stakeholders, with the objective of building a shared understanding of the research challenges threatening space systems. Through structured discussion across space application domains and challenges, participants will bring forth open challenges in space systems security and examine how academia can help strengthen both existing and next-generation space infrastructure. The aim is to leave with a prioritized set of research challenges, a shared inventory of the testbeds and artifacts the community can pool, and named commitments for carrying the work forward. The findings will be published in the form of a white paper.

Important dates

  • Workshop: October 26, 2026

Goals

  • Build a community of researchers, industry practitioners, and government advisors to bridge the gap and collectively address space security
  • Identify the most important open research challenges in space systems cybersecurity
  • Identify challenges to space security

Program

Time Agenda
7:30–8:30 AM Breakfast and Arrival
8:30–8:45 AM Welcome and Workshop Charge
8:45–9:30 AM NASA: Securing Space 2.0
9:30–10:00 AM Introductions and Capability Mapping
10:00–10:15 AM Break
10:15–10:55 AM AFRL: Autonomous Satellite Systems
10:55–11:55 AM Working Session I: The Next Hard Problems in Space Systems Security
11:55–1:10 PM Lunch
1:10–1:50 PM Idaho National Laboratory: Satellite Integration into Cellular Networks & Security
1:50–3:00 PM Working Session II: What Will It Take to Build Secure and Trustworthy Space Systems?
3:00–3:15 PM Break
3:15–3:55 PM AFRL: How Can Academia Help?
3:55–4:25 PM Working Session III: Where Academic Research Can Change the Security Equation?
4:25–4:35 PM Shared Research Infrastructure: What Do We Have and What Do We Need?
4:35–4:55 PM Research Priorities, Commitments, and White Paper
4:55–5:00 PM Aerospace Corporation: Closing Remarks

Participants

We will update this soon!

Organizers

  • Afsah Anwar, University of New Mexico
  • Sazzadur Rahaman (Sazz), University of Arizona
Idaho National Laboratory