Course overview
Practical Space Cybersecurity is the complete space security course — five days of intensive, hands-on training that takes students from attacker to defender. You’ll spend the first half of the course compromising space systems across every segment, then pivot to understanding why those attacks succeeded and how to build systems that can withstand them.
This course combines the full curriculum of Offensive Space Operations and Defensive Space Operations into a unified experience. Students execute attacks using the ARES framework, then inherit a catastrophically compromised mission environment and rebuild it from the ground up. The result is complete perspective: you understand how adversaries operate because you’ve been one, and you understand defense because you’ve seen what happens without it.
Every technique, offensive and defensive, maps to SPARTA (Space Attack Research and Tactic Analysis) from The Aerospace Corporation. Students leave with a unified framework for understanding threats, executing assessments, and building secure space systems.
The in-person format includes hardware throughout: CubeSat FlatSats, ground station radio equipment, and embedded systems. You’ll attack and defend real RF links and flight hardware, not just simulations.
Course structure
Days 1–3: offensive operations. Students spend the first three days as attackers, systematically compromising a space mission environment using the ARES framework. Every attack maps to SPARTA, building a structured understanding of how adversaries target space systems.
Days 4–5: defensive operations. Students then inherit a different mission — one where every security decision was wrong. They analyze the catastrophic compromise, understand exactly how and why it succeeded, then rebuild the mission with proper security controls. The attacks they executed on Days 1–3 inform their defensive decisions on Days 4–5.
Why in-person only
The PSC experience depends on hardware integration across both offensive and defensive modules. Attacking real RF links, then implementing defenses on the same hardware, creates understanding that virtual labs cannot replicate. The five-day format also benefits from the immersive environment and direct instructor access that in-person delivery provides.
- Security professionals who need complete offensive and defensive space capabilities
- Red team operators who want to understand the defensive implications of their work
- Security architects who need attacker perspective to build better defenses
- Mission assurance engineers responsible for end-to-end space system security
- Government and military personnel in space security roles requiring full-spectrum understanding
- Security consultants building space system assessment practices
- Space systems familiarity — spacecraft, ground segment, mission operations
- Orbital mechanics basics — orbital elements, TLEs, spacecraft dynamics
- Linux command line proficiency
- Networking fundamentals — TCP/IP, common protocols, traffic analysis
- Security foundations — familiarity with both offensive and defensive concepts
- Recommended: complete Foundations in Space Cybersecurity first
Upon completion, students will be able to:
- 01 Execute full attack chains against space systems across all segments
- 02 Map offensive and defensive operations to SPARTA tactics, techniques, and countermeasures
- 03 Leverage the ARES framework to conduct SPARTA-mapped offensive operations
- 04 Identify security gaps through compromise analysis
- 05 Understand attack progression and impact when security controls are absent
- 06 Design and implement security architectures for ground, link, and space segments
- 07 Configure logging, monitoring, and detection capabilities
- 08 Develop security baselines for space mission environments
- 09 Conduct purple team operations that integrate offensive and defensive perspectives
- 10 Prioritize security investments based on demonstrated attack impact
Day 1 · Attack Surface and Reconnaissance
- Module 1: Space systems attack surface, SPARTA & ARES framework
- Module 2: Reconnaissance and target development
- OSINT, TLE analysis, ground infrastructure enumeration, supply chain
- Lab: Reconnaissance operations with ARES
Day 2 · Ground and Link Segment Attacks
- Module 3: Ground segment exploitation
- Mission control weaknesses, credential harvesting, lateral movement
- Lab: Ground segment compromise with hardware
- Module 4: Link segment attacks
- CCSDS / AOS / Proximity-1 protocol analysis, RF interception
- Lab: Protocol exploitation and RF attacks against FlatSat links
Day 3 · Space Segment and Attack Chains
- Module 5: Space segment compromise
- Flight software attack vectors, subsystem manipulation, persistence
- Lab: Spacecraft subsystem attacks on FlatSat hardware
- Module 6: Integrated attack operations
- Multi-stage attacks across segments, data exfiltration, covering tracks
- Lab: End-to-end attack chain execution
Day 4 · Understanding Failure and Rebuilding
- Module 7: Inheriting a disaster
- Attack timeline correlated to attacks executed on Days 1–3
- SPARTA mapping: which techniques succeeded and why
- Lab: Exploring the compromised environment
- Module 8: Ground and link segment recovery
- Segmentation, authentication, hardening, encryption, integrity
- Lab: Rebuilding ground and link segment security
Day 5 · Visibility, Baseline, and Integration
- Module 9: Visibility and operational security
- Logging, monitoring, detection tuned to the attack patterns you executed
- Lab: Building security visibility and operational controls
- Module 10: Secure baseline and purple team capstone
- Defense-in-depth, baseline documentation
- Capstone: Purple team exercise — validate defenses against ARES attack chains
Most courses teach offense or defense. PSC teaches both in sequence, creating practitioners who understand the full attack-defense cycle from direct experience.
The attacks you execute on Days 1–3 directly inform your defensive work on Days 4–5. You're not defending against theoretical threats — you're defending against attacks you personally conducted.
Every technique, offensive and defensive, aligns with SPARTA, giving you a unified framework for the entire space security domain.
Five days of hands-on work with real CubeSat hardware, ground station equipment, and RF links. You attack it, then you secure it.
Extended time with ARES builds deep familiarity with purpose-built space security tooling, including using attack patterns to validate defensive controls.
Practical Space Cybersecurity is delivered privately to teams and organizations — no public open enrollment. Reach out with a rough sense of your team size, timeline, and whether you'd like the standard curriculum or a version tailored to your own mission profile.