Security measures for a satellite operation means assessing everything from physical risk at a ground station to cyber attacks in space and space debris. The operation must be aligned with the current security threats. Simple, but very complicated.

Any Norwegian space project is international in its execution. We have world class competence, but we are a small player in the space industry. In 2024, Space Norway launches two highly elliptical satellites that will provide broadband to the Arctic. The two satellites in the ASBM programme (Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission) are being built in the US and will cover and transmit to American soil. We interact with both suppliers and customers here (read this article on Landing Rights in the US) in addition to our Norwegian and British customers.

Security is especially important when the operation takes place in space and on the ground at the same time, and it is equally important to cooperate well with customers and suppliers on security matters. The measures we must take into consideration span from physical and digital protection of the ground stations to operating the satellites in a secure fashion and to the protection of software and systems on board the satellites. Obviously, there is a whole range of different risks that can occur in such a wide scope. A satellite will not be exposed to the same physical threats as the ground stations, such as flooding for example, but the operation as an entity must consider everything that can happen on the ground and in space at the same time. Security is seen in three dimensions: Confidentiality protects the values; integrity protects information and makes sure it does what it is supposed to do and finally availability provides what you want when you want it.

So how does one cover such an elaborate and important issue, with so many variables and with customers and suppliers from different countries with different rules and demands? A common set of rules and standards is a good beginning.

To cover all these considerations as simply as possible in cooperation with our partners, Space Norway uses the American NIST as a framework. NIST (The National Institute of Standards and Technology) offers framework and guidelines using open standards and suggestions for measures to secure operations and information through developing policies and procedures tailor made for our needs. This institute does not have power of enforcement nor powers of revision, but it offers a wide range of security standards, from the smallest nano particle tool to global communication networks. They offer principles for procedures and detailed suggestions for the whole process.

Space Norway’s security team works with specialized consultants in implementing these procedures for our ASBM operation. To us, it is essential to be credible towards our national and international customers, and NIST is an important common basis for our security efforts.

Radio frequencies are shared resources, and that makes global cooperation necessary. Making order and predictability in frequency allocation is a time consuming and very complex task. To any outside person, calculating which satellites will transmit when and where and on which frequency, without interfering with each other, would seem like an infernal game of pick-up sticks. Thousands of satellites orbit the globe at any given moment, transmitting to their ground stations. How to secure free transmission, without interfering with signals from all the other satellites?

In 2015, Space Norway decided to launch two highly elliptical satellites for polar orbit. A launch like this demands a lot of planning, time, money, bureaucracy – and a lot of computer calculation capacity. A planned launch means you notify on behalf of a state, not a company, your predicted frequency requirement. This notification is delivered via the national communications authority to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations’ body for space frequency coordination. Space Norway’s strategy was to make as many and high quality simulations as possible, in advance of the notification. This is a complicated strategy since the notification must be delivered many years before the program knows exactly what its customers will need.

When satellites transmit on frequencies close to another, interference is very likely. New satellites must know that its transmissions down to its ground stations will not interfere with existing patterns of transmission. Two causes are the most likely to create noise; one is other satellites and the other is the weather, especially rain. Any satellite operator must reach an agreement with other operators that their satellites will not create interference for the other’s signals. This issue is solved in many long meetings where the newcomer brings along simulations showing predicted interference.

The regulations system used by the ITU to allocate frequencies were made a long time ago, and it is designed for geo stationary satellites. Since the system was introduced, a lot more traffic has been added, and the technology used is much more advanced. Geo stationary satellites do not move across the horizon, they move with the same speed as the earth’s rotation allowing them to transmit directly down to their ground stations all the time. Satellites in polar orbit will continuously move towards or away from their ground stations, resulting in more interference, and that is much more complicated to calculate. Coordinating the frequencies between polar and geo stationary orbits is very complex.

When Space Norway started working with the frequencies for its HEOSAT program, there were no models for calculating interference for non geo stationary satellites. All modelling and simulation tools had to be developed from scratch. These computations are so complicated that most computers would kneel: To estimate interference, one must calculate how the signals will hit approximately every second. For accurate statistical purposes, you need to calculate every second for two days. Two days have 172,800 seconds, resulting in several tens of billions of computations to make accurate simulations.

Once this job is done, you need to reach an agreement with the other satellite operators. Agreeing that the calculations made are correct, is the first hurdle, and agreeing that the statistics are correct is the second. Then the hard part starts. The next stage is agreeing on how much interference actually poses a problem and how much noise you can live with. This exercise is done with all nearby operators.

As if this was not complicated enough, some nations demand that you apply for market access on their territory. This brings a new set of regulations that must be adhered to, combined with more long-lasting discussions. Frequency coordination is a never-ending task. New operators with plans for new satellites bringing new notices to the table is the status quo.

The ITU is not an enforcing agency, meaning they have no authority to decide how two operators agree on frequencies. This means that as long as we all have a common interest, the pieces normally fall into place. Not surprisingly, not all operators always play by the same rules, making it a time consuming exercise to reach agreements.

A group of engineers and operators from Space Norway are currently visiting the British satellite operator Avanti in Goonhilly in Cornwall, to attend satellite operations courses. The team is strengthening their competence in satellite control and operations as a preparation for the upcoming launch of the ASBM (ASBM, Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission) satellites in 2024.

Satellite communications is understandably associated with strict security requirements and require highly dependable ground systems. The satellite operations control centre monitors the satellites 24/7. Telemetry is downloaded from the satellites and processed to ensure that all systems are operating per specification. The satellite operators work continuously in conjunction with the customers to qualify the mission requirements. The uniqueness of ASBM due to its highly elliptical choice of orbit as well as the close collaboration with its international partners Inmarsat, the Norwegian Armed Forces and the US Space Command, places significance on the development of a solid organization for satellite operations.

The Norwegian engineers are trained for a duration of two months at the British operator Avanti. Avanti was chosen for this assignment because it utilizes the same satellite operations software as Space Norway has implemented for ASBM. By participating in this training program, Space Norway ensures that its operations team holds solid competence in satellite operations prior to launching the satellites in the summer of 2024. Birger Johansen is leading the engineers from Space Norway and KSAT, and he believes they have benefited greatly from attending this training program in Goonhilly. – Our personnel collaborate very well with the satellite operators from Avanti. We have met persons with Avanti who hold a similar mindset as what we are used to from our organizations. There is a flat hierarchical structure in the company, and they share the same approach to problem-solving. The cultural similarities enable the training to be particularly efficient in readying our team for operating the satellites after launch, and contributes to significantly reducing the operational risk, states a satisfied Johansen.   

The two Norwegian HEO-satellites shall be operational within one and a half year. They represent the first satellites from Western space industry to circulate the Earth in high-elliptical orbits across the two poles.

The ground stations have already been built in Tromsø and at Bardufoss and are ready to receive and process the information coming from the two satellites. Space Norway and KSAT are collaborating closely to prepare a round-the-clock, 24/7 organization for operating the ground stations once the satellites are operational in orbit.

Maintaining a stable operation as well as security are the most important features for most IT systems, and nowhere is this as important as it is in space. If a problem occurs, obviously there is no one to send. Consequently, all software and all physical parts of a satellite are thoroughly tested and retested before launch.

As a part of the delivery from satellite builder Northrop Grumman, a test environment is established on the ground where a simulator is a critical component. This satellite simulator is a digital copy of the ASBM satellites, and it is used for testing the ground stations before the actual satellites are launched into their highly elliptical orbit. The simulator is used to train the satellite engineers and operators for a range of different scenarios and all these practices are constantly evaluated.

The satellite simulator and the test environment have been through an acceptance test in Norway and is a part of the satellite operations center. The simulator enables efficient and secure testing and evaluation of every single procedure within each sub system on each satellite, such as propulsion, power, temperature management and handeling of payloads, data and TT&C (Telemetry, tracking and command).

The ASBM programme sent all its engineers and satellite operators to the British satellite operator Avanti for several months during 2022. Now, the staff spends more time in the simulator to be as prepared as possible when the satellites are sent into orbit over the poles. Once the programme enters the operational phase, the simulator will be used to test planned maneuvers before transmitting them to the satellites and for the operators to practice different scenarios.

Date June 8th 2022

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Space Systems Command (SSC) delivered the first of two Enhanced Polar Systems-Recapitalization (EPS-R) payloads to begin integration on Space Norway’s Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission host space vehicles. The second payload is expected to be delivered for integration onto the second host space vehicle by the end of July 2022. SSC’s joint partnership with Norway is allowing the hosted payload to deliver capabilities three years ahead of schedule with potential savings of up to $900 million. A successful integration and testing process will highlight the effectiveness of the U.S. Space Force, Norway’s Ministry of Defense, and Space Norway’s strategic partnership.

Read the rest of the press release here.

This is a Space News article written by Jason Rainbow, May 13th 2022.

Satellite operators are venturing into the Arctic to improve connectivity as the changing atmospheric and geopolitical climate drives demand for more bandwidth in one of Earth’s last remaining frontiers.

Fledgling and established operators alike see a growing market for capacity in areas best served by satellites in non-geostationary orbit (NGSO).

OneWeb and SpaceX’s Starlink, the world’s largest broadband megaconstellations in low Earth orbit (LEO), already have polar-orbiting satellites in their expanding fleets.

SES is looking at using inclined planes to cover the Arctic with O3b mPower, its next-generation medium Earth orbit network that aims to start deploying satellites this year.

The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) — a joint venture between British satellite operator Inmarsat, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Air Force — plans to deploy two satellites in highly elliptical orbits on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2023 for polar coverage.

Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) has outlined plans to add four satellites in highly elliptical orbits to its fleet in the following years to extend coverage deep into the Arctic Circle.

Read the rest of the article here.