Abstract
More than half a century of space activities has resulted in the placement of thousands of space objects in the Earth’s orbit. Understanding the questions of how, where, and who is moving in orbit is essential for the management of space infrastructure. Since the beginning of space missions, this task as been carried out by Space Situational Awareness (SSA) systems. SSA systems are made up of several subsystems, such as optical recognition instruments, radar and radio. In recent years, these terrestrial systems have also been joined by satellites with similar capabilities. Historically, these systems were maintained by the military. It was only recently that the private sector became a major actor in the field. Consultation, Command and Control (C3) allows for a strong collaboration of civil and military bodies that focus on information sharing and interoperability of the systems. SSA systems have proved critical in collisions between satellites and in preserving the structural stability of the International Space Station several times. The security of these systems hence has a strong impact on space and international security. The growing importance of the space sector and its progressive recognition as a critical infrastructure shows that a model and simulation of the scenario are essential for a centric defence. This paper will identify the areas that pose external threats focussing on the European and Arctic region. Following the threats’ evaluation, their level of disruption will be considered, whether partial or total, permanent or temporary. This approach will enable the development of a European and Arctic scenario analysis of SSA disruption and evaluate the SSA security in the coming years. The scenario will take into consideration environmental, kinetic, electronic, and cyber sources of disruption.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Schneier, B.: Attack trees. Dobb’s J. 24(12), 21–29 (1999)
Gregory, F., Viswanathan, A., and Santangelo, A.: Cubesat security attack tree analysis. In: 8th International Conference on Space Mission Challenges for Information Technology (SMC-IT). IEEE, (2021)
McKnight, D.: A practical perspective on space traffic management. J. Space Saf. Eng. 6(2), 101–107 (2019)
U.S. Airforce: Counterspace Operations. Air Force Doctrine Publication 3(14) (2018)
Carlo, A., Veazoglou, N.: ASAT weapons: enhancing NATO’s operational capabilities in the emerging space dependent era. In: Mazal, J., Fagiolini, A., Vasik, P. (eds.) Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systems. MESAS 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 11995, pp. 417–426. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43890-6_34
DARPA. https://www.darpa.mil/. Accessed 01 Aug 2022
European Union Satellite Entre: Space Situational Awareness (SSA). https://www.satcen.europa.eu/page/ssa. Accessed 01 Aug 2022
European Space Agency: SSA Programme Overview. https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/SSA_Programme_overview. Accessed 01 Aug 2022
Stokes, A., et al.: China’s Space and Counterspace Capabilities and Activities. US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (2020)
Harri, M.: The Geostrategic Arctic. Hard Security in the High North, FIIA Briefing Paper (2019)
Wickman, L.: Near-term space support for arctic operations. Center Space Policy Strategy Online 4 (2017)
Rainbow, J.: Hughes and Oneweb Get U.S. Air Force Contract for Arctic Broadband. SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/oneweb-gets-u-s-air-force-contract-for-arctic-broadband/. Accessed 01 Aug 2022
Salmeri, A., Carlo, A.: Security-by-design approaches for critical infrastructure: mapping the landscape of cyber and space law. In: NATO Legal Gazette, N 42
Carlo, A., Casamassima, F.: Securing Outer Space through Cyber: Risks and Countermeasures. In: 72nd International Astronautical Congress, Dubai (2021)
Oltrogge, D.L., Alfano, S.: The technical challenges of better space situational awareness and space traffic management. J. Space Saf. Eng. 6(2), 72–79 (2019)
James, A., Garza, A., and May, C.: An Analysis of the Potential Misuse of Active Debris Removal, On-Orbit Servicing, and Rendezvous & Proximity Operations Technologies. United States: The George Washington University (2019)
Jones, A.: China’s shijian-21 towed dead satellite to a high graveyard orbit,” SpaceNews. https://spacenews.com/chinas-shijian-21-spacecraft-docked-with-and-towed-a-dead-satellite/. Accessed 01 Aug 2022
Pavur, J., Martinovic, I.: On detecting deception in space situational awareness. In: Asia Conference on Computer and Communications Security (2021)
Gregory, F., Boschetti, N.: A security risk taxonomy for commercial space missions. In: ASCEND (2021)
Carlo, A.: Cyber threats to space communications: space and cyberspace policies. In: Froehlich, A. (ed.) Outer Space and Cyber Space. SSP, vol. 33, pp. 55–66. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80023-9_4
China’s ground segment, China Aerospace Studies Institute, https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/CASI/documents/Research/Space/2021-03-01%20Chinas%20Ground%20Segment.pdf?ver=z4ogY_MrxaDurwVt-R9J6w%3d%3d. Accessed 01 Dec 2022
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Carlo, A., Boschetti, N. (2023). Modelling the Impact of Space Situational Awareness Disruption on the European and Arctic Security Landscape. In: Mazal, J., et al. Modelling and Simulation for Autonomous Systems. MESAS 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13866. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31268-7_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31268-7_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-31267-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-31268-7
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)