Toward Secure Operation and Management (O&M) of Satellite Constellations: Efficiency, Resilience, and Reliability in a Network Perspective

Satellite constellations equipped with Inter-Satellite Links (ISLs) and onboard packet switching enable real-time Operation and Management (O&M) across globally distributed satellites, but at the same time broaden the attack surface and expose the system to unprecedented cybersecurity threats. Existing efforts have primarily focused on optimizing cryptography for single-satellite, point-to-point links, without considering how a broader notion of security should be applied at the constellation level. To bridge this gap, this article advances in two directions: anetworkperspective—from individual satellites to constellation-wide architectures; and anexpanded security perspective—from isolated cryptography to system-level security that embeds efficiency, resilience, and reliability. Together, these two expansions motivate three fundamental questions: (i) how canefficientsecurity mechanisms be designed for dynamic constellation topologies that require adaptive onboard routing; (ii) how can a constellation O&Mresilientlyrecover to an acceptable operational state under worst-case failures of onboard security functions; and (iii) how can thereliabilityof onboard security functions be enhanced under stringent onboard resource constraints. To address these challenges, we first construct a constellation-wide hybrid security framework that safeguards content field with high semantic sensitivity using End-to-End (E2E) encryption, while protecting routing-related fields through Moving Target Defense (MTD). Next, we introduce a ciphered-mode and safe-mode management mechanism with anM-delayed fallback that balances recovery timeliness against exploitability. Finally, to enhance reliability of onboard security functions, we propose security-aware routers that manage plaintext/ciphered modes and orchestrate access to a shared pool of onboard cipher modules, thereby enabling redundancy to be shared across multiple endpoints and significantly extending the duration of secure operation in ciphered mode. Overall, these solutions comply with existing standards defined by standardization organizations, including Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), while translating their conceptual security principles into more practical, system-level mechanisms.