Networked TT&C for mega satellite constellations: A security perspective

• Published in: China communications Vol. 19; no. 9; pp. 58 - 76
• Main Authors: Zhan, Yafeng, Zeng, Guanming, Pan, Xiaohan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Institute of Communications 01.09.2022; Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology,Beijing 100084,China%Department of Electronic Engineering,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084,China
• Subjects: Delays; mega-constellation; Monitoring; network; Relays; Routing; Satellite constellations; Satellites; Security; trust mechanisms; TT&C; mega-constellation; routing; trust mechanisms; TT&C; se-curity; network
• ISSN: 1673-5447
• DOI: 10.23919/JCC.2022.09.006

Satellite constellations are promising in enabling the global Internet. However, the increasing constellation size also complicates tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) systems. Traditional ground-based and space-based approaches have encountered significant obstacles due to, e.g., the limited satellite visible arc and long transmission delay. Considering the fast development of intersatellite communications, synergy among multiple connected satellites can be exploited to facilitate TT&C system designs. This leads to networked TT&C, which requires much less predeployed infrastructures and even performs better than traditional TT&C systems. In this paper, we elaborate system characteristics of networked TT&C compared with traditional ground-based and space-based TT&C, and propose the unique security challenges and opportunities for networked TT&C, which includes secure routing and trust mechanisms. Furthermore, since networked TT&C is a novel scenario with few relevant researches, we first investigate the current researches on secure routing and trust mechanisms for traditional terrestrial and satellite networks, and then accordingly deliver our security perspectives considering the system characteristics and security requirements of networked TT&C.