"First in Space: SpaceX and NASA Launch Satellite That Hackers Will Attempt to Infiltrate During DEF CON"
At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX and NASA launched a satellite into low-earth orbit with the hope that it will be hacked. Multiple cubesats, which are small square-shaped satellites, were attached to the SpaceX rocket launched for a resupply mission to the International Space Station. One of these cubesats, called "Moonlighter," will serve as an experimental "hacking sandbox." Later this year, security researchers will use this sandbox as part of a competition at the annual DEF CON hacking conference in Las Vegas. Teams will try to infiltrate it to identify satellite vulnerabilities and improve space cybersecurity. Moonlighter represents the latest iteration of the Hack-A-Sat competition, which has been hosted by the Air Force since 2020 as a multi-year effort to increase collaboration with cybersecurity researchers. However, the last three capture-the-flag competitions were all simulations. They wanted to take the competition to a whole new level this year. This article continues to discuss researchers being able to test the security of a satellite on-orbit at this year's Hack-A-Sat contest at DEF CON for the first time ever, as well as the importance of securing space systems.