tech track papers

Categories: 2018, Satellite Communications Command and Control

Protected Satellite Command and Control (C2) Waveforms and Enhanced Satellite Resiliency

Satellites that were once safe deep in space grow more vulnerable as adversaries are increasingly displaying both the intent and wherewithal to compromise and cripple space capabilities in their efforts to challenge our strategic advantage.  These vulnerabilities are driving change in military space and countering them requires more resilience, agility, and speed in order to predict, pre-empt, and prevent the growing range of threats.

Among counter-measures under consideration is the concept of building protection into the command and control link for satellite programs. A case is made, based on the evolution and emergence of several competitor nation-states, that our satellite systems need superior protection and resilience in their command and control (C2) capability. Techniques for achieving that protection and resilience using modern waveforms and technology are presented. The security implications of protected C2 on both ground and space segments will be described, followed by a discussion of how such a capability could be developed and fielded.

The presentation contains a general overview of the threats, including detection, interception, jamming, and spoofing. Protected waveform techniques, such as spread spectrum, forward error correction, cryptography, and filtering based on time and position are discussed.

An overview of the impacts and transition concepts for both the ground segment and space segment are reviewed, including re-use of existing assets, technology transition, and options for transition to a commercial model. Tradeoffs between re-use of existing spectrum vs allocation of new spectrum are discussed.

This Tech Track paper will examine approaches to developing a common protected C2 waveform countermeasure capability that can be developed and fielded.

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Author: Bryan Butler
Topic: Satellite Communications, Command, and Control

  • Paper: Protected Satellite Command and Control (C2) Waveforms and Enhanced Satellite Resiliency

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  • Presentation: Protected Satellite Command and Control (C2) Waveforms and Enhanced Satellite Resiliency

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