irreversibly damaging the onboard telescope.
88
Ten years later, hackers took control of two US civilian weather satellites, Landsat 7 and EOS AM-1, interrupting
their service for a prolonged period of time. In 2011, a computer of the Japanese
H-2A rocket was infected by unknown malware.
89
A few years later, a US satellite
operated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lost all
its functionalities
90
for several weeks after a cyber-attack. These are just a few of
the cases made public.
To counter these threats, military satellites use protection techniques that constantly change their transmission frequencies. However, developments in modern
cyber warfare are making these security procedures obsolete. Relocating the whole
command and control chain on such a Battle Star could physically eliminate the
link between Earth and space and could ensure better survival from cyber- attacks.
Of course, the physical protection of the Battle Stars would become a priority, but
it would be an effort focused only on a few systems in precise locations in space
and not – as is the case now– on hundreds of satellites in different orbits.
The Battle Stars could therefore represent a concrete, updated version of Ronald
Reagan’s never completed star shield of the eighties. The basic need of space protection is still well embedded in US strategy, and so the Battle Stars could well be
integrated into the operative architecture of the newly constituted Space Force.
91
As the Reagan’s project did last century, the Battle Stars could become a physical
and psychological deterrent, pushing other powers towards new agreements for
global security. This would also be similar to how the proliferation of nuclear
arsenals in the eighties became a push to seek the Start-I treaties.
92
In the words of the geopolitical analyst and Italian Professor Carlo Pelanda,
93
America still maintains the global dominion built in the past decades, but it is
losing it quickly. It seems that China’s strategy is to preserve and defend the
continuity of the Communist Party by achieving absolute military superiority,
a goal it could achieve from 2035 onwards. Signs suggest that the US will
want to react. The strategists interested in the prospective stability of the
global market fear that if an imperial power will gain excessive superiority in
the sector of next-generation selective armaments, it will force the other to
8 8
h t t p s : / / w w w. s a t e l l i t e t o d a y. c o m / g o v e r n m e n t - m i l i t a r y / 2 0 0 8 / 1 2 / 0 1 /
nasa-computers-hacked-by-intruders/.
89
http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/aerospace-engineering/cyber-security/
jaxa-computer-virus-adds-growing-cyber-security-concerns-space/.
90
https://www.washingtonpost.com/chinese-hack-us-weather-systems-satellite-network/story.
html.
91
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/us/politics/trump-missile-defense-pentagon.html.
92
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/09/world/summit-reagan-gorbachev-sign-missile-treatyvow-work-for-greater-reductions.html.
93
https://www.carlopelanda.com/vita.aspx.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 115
88
Ten years later, hackers took control of two US civilian weather satellites, Landsat 7 and EOS AM-1, interrupting
their service for a prolonged period of time. In 2011, a computer of the Japanese
H-2A rocket was infected by unknown malware.
89
A few years later, a US satellite
operated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lost all
its functionalities
90
for several weeks after a cyber-attack. These are just a few of
the cases made public.
To counter these threats, military satellites use protection techniques that constantly change their transmission frequencies. However, developments in modern
cyber warfare are making these security procedures obsolete. Relocating the whole
command and control chain on such a Battle Star could physically eliminate the
link between Earth and space and could ensure better survival from cyber- attacks.
Of course, the physical protection of the Battle Stars would become a priority, but
it would be an effort focused only on a few systems in precise locations in space
and not – as is the case now– on hundreds of satellites in different orbits.
The Battle Stars could therefore represent a concrete, updated version of Ronald
Reagan’s never completed star shield of the eighties. The basic need of space protection is still well embedded in US strategy, and so the Battle Stars could well be
integrated into the operative architecture of the newly constituted Space Force.
91
As the Reagan’s project did last century, the Battle Stars could become a physical
and psychological deterrent, pushing other powers towards new agreements for
global security. This would also be similar to how the proliferation of nuclear
arsenals in the eighties became a push to seek the Start-I treaties.
92
In the words of the geopolitical analyst and Italian Professor Carlo Pelanda,
93
America still maintains the global dominion built in the past decades, but it is
losing it quickly. It seems that China’s strategy is to preserve and defend the
continuity of the Communist Party by achieving absolute military superiority,
a goal it could achieve from 2035 onwards. Signs suggest that the US will
want to react. The strategists interested in the prospective stability of the
global market fear that if an imperial power will gain excessive superiority in
the sector of next-generation selective armaments, it will force the other to
8 8
h t t p s : / / w w w. s a t e l l i t e t o d a y. c o m / g o v e r n m e n t - m i l i t a r y / 2 0 0 8 / 1 2 / 0 1 /
nasa-computers-hacked-by-intruders/.
89
http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/aerospace-engineering/cyber-security/
jaxa-computer-virus-adds-growing-cyber-security-concerns-space/.
90
https://www.washingtonpost.com/chinese-hack-us-weather-systems-satellite-network/story.
html.
91
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/us/politics/trump-missile-defense-pentagon.html.
92
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/09/world/summit-reagan-gorbachev-sign-missile-treatyvow-work-for-greater-reductions.html.
93
https://www.carlopelanda.com/vita.aspx.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 115