American space systems face cyberattacks from China and other malign forces “with concerning regularity,” according to U.S. officials tasked with protecting satellites and other critical space infrastructure.
“Cyberthreats are things that happen all the time, not just from China but also nonstate actors,” a senior administration official told reporters Friday. “I can’t really talk about those at an unclassified level. Suffice to say that they do occur, and they occur with concerning regularity.”
President Trump’s administration is rolling out a suite of directives intended to fortify the complex of hardware and software that comprise the U.S. space industry, but some space-based systems may remain vulnerable due to their inaccessibility. American officials are working to patch the systems that they can reach, however, as space technology emerges as the cutting edge of U.S. competition with China and Russia.
“Cyber security does not stop at America’s terrestrial borders,” White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said in a statement accompanying the new directive. “The Administration is committed to protecting the American people from all cyber related threats to critical infrastructure, public health and safety, and our economic and national security — including American space systems and capabilities.”
China’s space technology development has taken on ominous significance in the eyes of American military strategies in recent years, who see Beijing emphasizing the development of ground-based anti-satellite weapons as well as cybersystems that could deliver a critical advantage in the early days of a potential conflict.
“The PRC continues to strengthen its military space capabilities, despite its public stance against the weaponization of space,” the Pentagon’s newly released 2020 report on China’s military power observed. “Additionally, the PRC continues to develop counterspace capabilities — including direct ascent, co-orbital, electronic warfare, and directed energy capabilities — that can contest or deny an adversary’s access to and operations in the space domain during a crisis or conflict.”
The new directive seeks to mitigate some of those threats, upgrading cybersecurity capabilities throughout the space industry supply chain. U.S. officials avoided providing details about the recent attacks on American space assets, but the directive put an emphasis on the need to prevent hackers from gaining “unauthorized access” to space systems, jamming communications between Earth and space-based satellites, or even exploiting “vulnerabilities of command” that might allow hostile forces to take control of a system.
Still, there are technological limits to the security improvements that can be made for satellites that are currently in orbit. “They’re hard to get to,” the senior administration official acknowledged. “At some future point, going out there to an existing satellite [and] providing a hardware upgrade will be possible, but that’s hard to do right now.”
The new cybersecurity directive comes on the same day that China “launched a reusable experimental spacecraft,” according to Chinese state-run media. The South China Morning Post quoted an unnamed military source who advised that journalists “take a look at the US X-37B” in response to a request for details of the launch.
The experimental U.S. Air Force vessel is analogous to a space shuttle, but its tasks are shrouded in secrecy. Trump’s team demurred when asked if the Chinese vessel was derived from stolen American technology.
“With regard to where the Chinese got the idea for the plane and the design for it, I think you should ask them,” the senior administration official said.
