less vulnerable lunar ones. This consideration gives new perspective to the future
of space exploration.
An interesting perspective is provided by the well-known analyst George
Friedman, founder of the think-tanks Geopolitical Futures
80
and Stratfor,
81
mentioned earlier in this book. In his own book The next 100 Years,
82
published in
2009, he predicts that space exploration will evolve so significantly in the twentyfirst century that an armed conflict is inevitable. According to Friedman, the US
will build and operate three huge crewed outposts, named Battle Stars, for military
purposes in Earth orbit, which will be attacked by enemy bases on the Moon.
83
At
first glance, this might seem like a science fiction book rather than a geopolitical
analysis, but such events are actually the subject of an in-depth strategy course at
the Air War College
84
of the Maxwell Air Force’s base in Montgomery, Alabama.
The conceptual idea of the Battle Stars can in fact be found in the current US
doctrine,
85
in which the entire chain of Intelligence, Surveillance, Command,
Control & Communication (ISC3) has to be integrated into future space-based
systems. Perhaps, with respect to Friedman’s predictions, military planners may
be reluctant to send hundreds of astronauts into space due to the huge costs needed
for safety, but a possible future Battle Star could instead be unmanned, automated
and equipped with artificial intelligence.
Today, the simplest way to disable or take control of a satellite is through a form
of cyber-attack, named jamming, on communications taking place between Earth
and space. Normally, the radio signals sent from ground stations to satellites also
include the commands for activating on-board instruments. Hackers could penetrate these channels, alter the flow of information and even take control. Every
satellite no matter how big or expensive it is, becomes useless without a constant
link to ground stations. Thus, governments in control of satellites aim to find
countermeasures for these cyber-attacks on Earth-space radio links.
These attacks are carried out continuously, even as the public
86
remains totally
unware. This is in part because they are invisible and do not produce debris like
other ASAT systems. In 1998, a cyber-attack on NASA’s computers at the Goddard
Center caused the Rosat
87
satellite to abnormally point towards the sun,
80
https://geopoliticalfutures.com/.
81
https://www.stratfor.com/people/189113.
82
Friedman, George. 2009. The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century. Anchor Books
Edition.
83
Idem, Chapter 10 “War Plans”. p. 183.
84
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/AWC/.
8 5
h t t p : / / w w w. a f s p c . a f . m i l / N e w s / A r t i c l e - D i s p l a y / A r t i c l e / 1 2 9 1 8 5 3 /
multi-domain-command-and-control-a-priority-for-air-force-space-command/.
86
Zatti, Stefano. 2017. The Protection of Space Missions: Threats and Cyber-Threats. European
Space Agency, Information Systems Security 13th International Conference, ICISS 2017.
87
Röntgensatellit, German-US scientific satellite.
114 Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future
of space exploration.
An interesting perspective is provided by the well-known analyst George
Friedman, founder of the think-tanks Geopolitical Futures
80
and Stratfor,
81
mentioned earlier in this book. In his own book The next 100 Years,
82
published in
2009, he predicts that space exploration will evolve so significantly in the twentyfirst century that an armed conflict is inevitable. According to Friedman, the US
will build and operate three huge crewed outposts, named Battle Stars, for military
purposes in Earth orbit, which will be attacked by enemy bases on the Moon.
83
At
first glance, this might seem like a science fiction book rather than a geopolitical
analysis, but such events are actually the subject of an in-depth strategy course at
the Air War College
84
of the Maxwell Air Force’s base in Montgomery, Alabama.
The conceptual idea of the Battle Stars can in fact be found in the current US
doctrine,
85
in which the entire chain of Intelligence, Surveillance, Command,
Control & Communication (ISC3) has to be integrated into future space-based
systems. Perhaps, with respect to Friedman’s predictions, military planners may
be reluctant to send hundreds of astronauts into space due to the huge costs needed
for safety, but a possible future Battle Star could instead be unmanned, automated
and equipped with artificial intelligence.
Today, the simplest way to disable or take control of a satellite is through a form
of cyber-attack, named jamming, on communications taking place between Earth
and space. Normally, the radio signals sent from ground stations to satellites also
include the commands for activating on-board instruments. Hackers could penetrate these channels, alter the flow of information and even take control. Every
satellite no matter how big or expensive it is, becomes useless without a constant
link to ground stations. Thus, governments in control of satellites aim to find
countermeasures for these cyber-attacks on Earth-space radio links.
These attacks are carried out continuously, even as the public
86
remains totally
unware. This is in part because they are invisible and do not produce debris like
other ASAT systems. In 1998, a cyber-attack on NASA’s computers at the Goddard
Center caused the Rosat
87
satellite to abnormally point towards the sun,
80
https://geopoliticalfutures.com/.
81
https://www.stratfor.com/people/189113.
82
Friedman, George. 2009. The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century. Anchor Books
Edition.
83
Idem, Chapter 10 “War Plans”. p. 183.
84
https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/AWC/.
8 5
h t t p : / / w w w. a f s p c . a f . m i l / N e w s / A r t i c l e - D i s p l a y / A r t i c l e / 1 2 9 1 8 5 3 /
multi-domain-command-and-control-a-priority-for-air-force-space-command/.
86
Zatti, Stefano. 2017. The Protection of Space Missions: Threats and Cyber-Threats. European
Space Agency, Information Systems Security 13th International Conference, ICISS 2017.
87
Röntgensatellit, German-US scientific satellite.
114 Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future