5-minute read | 800 words
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Closing the space-cyber workforce gap.
Host Maria Varmazis and Nick Cohen, Principal Engineer at the Aerospace Corporation, sat down to discuss DEF CON 34’s Aerospace Village. They look at how the space industry wants to help cyber professionals learn the unique challenges associated with protecting spacecraft. From open-source tools to simulated environments, the space industry is looking to bridge the knowledge gap between cybersecurity and space expertise.
Subscribe and listen to the conversation now.
Building the space cyber community
This week on T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing: we look at the challenges facing the space sector as it grows its cybersecurity workforce. Despite a clear and growing need for more cybersecurity talent, the space sector remains difficult to enter, even for those with an existing cybersecurity background.
Does this newsletter spark questions for you? Write to us at space@n2k.com to guide how we’ll continue to explore the space cybersecurity workforce in future podcast episodes and newsletter issues.
The barriers to entry.
Despite the space sector’s growing importance as a critical infrastructure sector and its accompanying need for more cybersecurity professionals, the industry continues to struggle to find new talent. While there are shortages in the cybersecurity workforce across a broad number of sectors, space has an additional layer on top of these challenges.
On top of the standard challenges many industries face when securing terrestrial infrastructure, such as ground stations, the space sector also has to address cybersecurity risks affecting spacecraft already in-orbit. Many of these systems rely on legacy technologies that can be difficult to access, understand, and update. Developing enough familiarity with these systems to perform effective cybersecurity operations creates another barrier for professionals entering the sector from outside the space industry.
This problem is not unique to the private sector. The US Space Force has also disclosed that it is struggling to retain cybersecurity and intelligence talent. In a study, the Government Accountability Office (GOA) noted:
“Space Systems Command leaders said they were prioritizing resources for critical functions but were pausing important noncritical functions such as workforce development activities. While the reallocation of resources helps address the most pressing mission needs, officials expect it to negatively affect growth and the development of future capabilities in the long term.”
Additionally, the GOA noted that for a number of the Space Force’s existing employees their expertise is based on “legacy requirements from the former Air Force Space Command” and that their skillsets have not since been reassessed and are likely outdated.
The GOA also noted that these workforce shortage problems would likely only continue to grow as the number of technical systems expand.
Expanding the space-cyber workforce.
Since the cybersecurity industry as a whole is experiencing a worsening workforce shortage problem, it is likely that these problems will continue to plague the space industry for years to come. However, that does not equate to being unable to fully address these problems.
One of the first proactive measures that can be undertaken is to both evaluate and upskill the existing cybersecurity workforce already in place for the space sector. As space has continued to expand, it is normal that new cybersecurity practitioners would transition from other sectors and may not have mission-specific expertise. For both the Space Force and private industry alike, evaluating existing expertise will be critical for long-term security operations.
Outside of ensuring the current workforce is competent, the space industry also needs to work to bridge the gap between standard cybersecurity professionals and the space sector. This effort does not necessarily mean turning cybersecurity professionals into aerospace engineers, but rather providing them with opportunities to develop enough space-specific knowledge to apply their existing skills effectively.
Creating these opportunities could help the space sector expand its cybersecurity workforce without relying exclusively on people who already possess both sets of expertise. Instead, the industry can begin building a workforce that enables both existing cybersecurity and space professionals.
This week’s space-cyber headlines.
The news stories we’re reading and thinking about this week.
New memo to help drastically boost US commercial space launches.
- President Trump signed a new memo that calls for a significant increase in US commercial space launches.
- The memo calls for the US to reach 1,000 annual launches and reentry by 2030, marking a steep increase from 178 launches in 2025.
- Listen to Ethan’s coverage of the story on the CyberWire Daily.
August 20, 2026 | Source: Reuters
Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later
- Over forty years ago, the discovery of a 75-cent accounting glitch in a Unix system led to the uncovering of a crew of German hackers working for the East German Stasi and the Soviet KGB.
August 22, 2026 | Source: DEF CON 34
