Expanding America's space capabilities.
Ethan Cook: Yeah, so I think when you look at both of these, right, obviously they're both crypto-focused, right? They're correctly identifying that cryptographic algorithms, whether that is for -- the one is for, you know, innovations and development and the other one is for defense, crypto is going to be the foundation for the next probably 10-plus years of avenues for both advancement and crippling someone.
Maria Varmazis: Welcome. I'm Maria Varmazis, and you're listening to T-Minus Space Cyber Briefing. In this show, we examine the evolution of cybersecurity and the global and orbital infrastructure that powers, protects, and connects our lives.
Maria Varmazis: Hi, thanks for joining me today. We are picking up where we left off in last week's episode, talking about recent executive orders relating to space cybersecurity and how they are shaping U.S. national priorities. Welcome back, everybody. Thank you for joining me on this fine day. It is, as always, my pleasure to be joined by T-Minus producer Ethan Cook. Hello, Ethan.
Ethan Cook: Hello. Good to be back.
Maria Varmazis: Yes. So we are diving back into our chat about executive orders from the second Trump administration relating to space and space cybersecurity. Whew. We went through, I think, two executive orders in the first part. Two, but big ones. Really big important ones. And they both really set the tone on this administration's philosophy and priorities on space, right? And we didn't even get that much into space cybersecurity, but I think we're going to be doing that today. So for space cybersecurity specifically, the thing that was interesting to me is that if you look for the phrase "space cybersecurity," you're not going to really find it in executive orders. However, if you look in cybersecurity-related executive orders, you will find the word "space."
Ethan Cook: Yes.
Maria Varmazis: So maybe that's the way we're going to sort of back our way into this one. So which one should we start with first, Ethan? Any preference on this?
Ethan Cook: You know, I think there's a lot, and I don't think there's a clear right starting point. I think, honestly, the one that stands out to me the most in terms of just overt, clearly this is about space cybersecurity is the Establishing the United States Space Academy.
Maria Varmazis: Really? Okay. All right.
Ethan Cook: Yeah. That's the one that, to me, when I looked at it, I went, all right, this is very clearly going to be about one thing, and that's space cybersecurity and space -- U.S. space capability.
Maria Varmazis: All right. Because I was going, great, we're making Starfleet Academy. It's about time, which was admittedly my reaction to this, as a giant nerd. But, yeah, I mean, so tell me more about what you're thinking on this for space cybersecurity and the capabilities that are going to be presumably built there. Yeah.
Ethan Cook: Yeah. So I think the thing that really stood out to me in this order, and I think we've talked about it on this show a lot, and I've certainly read about it a lot, is that within the U.S., and broadly speaking across the world, we do not have enough people to handle space cybersecurity effectively. We just don't. Part of it is because, and generally speaking, there is a cybersecurity workforce gap. So it's like every cybersecurity, you know, subsection.
Maria Varmazis: Rinse and repeat, right? Yeah.
Ethan Cook: We're all missing people. So like, that's not unique to space by any means. Finance is missing it. Health care is missing it, etc. So, like, that's part of that. I think the other thing that, unlike other traditional sectors have, space has a foreign language aspect to it. I don't mean literally foreign language. I mean, it is a completely different setup comparatively to pretty much every other sector, right? We are dealing with satellites that you can't go and touch once they're in space. You're dealing with infrastructure that has been existing for 40 to 50-plus years that is not going anywhere, right? Like, we can talk in a hospital how there are legacy systems, and we have to deal with them, or in critical infrastructure, there is legacy systems.
Maria Varmazis: Yup.
Ethan Cook: But at the end of the day, we can still replace those legacy systems if we really wanted to. It may not be cost-efficient, time-efficient, or practical by any stretch of the means.
Maria Varmazis: And we, in fact, we may not want to do it at all, but we can.
Ethan Cook: Exactly. But we are physically able to. It's not like it's a complete non-talking point, right?
Maria Varmazis: Yeah, yeah.
Ethan Cook: This is something that we cannot deal with. And unlike other things, we can't -- on the ground, we can't just go into the building where they're housed and, like, build up actual perimeter defenses around them. It's not that simple.
Maria Varmazis: Yup.
Ethan Cook: And I think that creates a huge kind of pause, because if you're a young cybersecurity professional, right, and you're really interested in cybersecurity and you want to make an impact, you're probably picking, you know, a place that has a lot of need. Well, congratulations. There's a lot of those places. Why would you, as an average person, try to then pick something that you're already fighting a losing battle in, right? Like, you can go work for a healthcare company, and while it may be difficult, and it's going to be difficult, at least you're understanding the kind of the ground-level floor stuff here, right? You're not having to learn a whole other completely complicated and, arguably, sometimes I think the word "convoluted," system that is space. And that's really off-putting for a lot of people who especially are young in the field, or even at the older side, have been in the field for 40 years, and I don't want to go and migrate to that. That sounds like a nightmare.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah. And also, how do you scale up? I mean, this is something we talk about on the show all the time, practically every week. And every time I go to a show and I meet listeners or something, and I know some of y'all listening right now, you all ask me the same question. I love this stuff, I want to learn more about it, and/or where are the jobs at, Maria? And the answer that I often get from folks in the industry is, go back in time and join the military, which is a very unsatisfying answer for a lot of us.
Ethan Cook: Yeah.
Maria Varmazis: But for those of you who want to do that, that's awesome. Thank you for your service. But that's not something everybody can do. So this United States Space Academy, again, I was like, oh, cool, Starfleet Academy. But, I mean, in all seriousness, let me just -- so this was a proclamation, not executive order. I'm looking at it right now. So it's technically not an executive order.
Ethan Cook: It is technically not an executive order.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah. So what is the proclamation? What's the difference there?
Ethan Cook: Well --
Maria Varmazis: Didn't even know this was a thing.
Ethan Cook: So, but it's a -- let's put it this way. A proclamation is not a -- it's even, to our conversation last episode where we talked about how an executive order is not literally law but has the weight of law. Same thing, but even weaker, right? That's how I've always interpreted it as. Maybe there's some nuance there from a lawyer who can maybe give more info on that. But it's not as -- they're easier to spin up. They are certainly less binding. They're more of a, hey, this is what we're doing here.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: And I think with an executive -- or with these kind of -- because this is so internalized within the military, right, this is, like, obviously, it's not going to be run by the military, but I think there are very clear crossovers to the military.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah, yeah. I wanted to address that especially because that was, I think, for me, a point of confusion. This is not the United States Space Force Academy.
Ethan Cook: No.
Maria Varmazis: And I want to just read a bit of the language in here. The name of this proclamation is "Establishing the United States Space Academy," and it was released August 28, 2026. Under Section 3 of this proclamation, it says, "The Commission shall advise and assist the President regarding proposals to establish the United States Space Academy, which is a proposed NASA-led federal academy dedicated to combining rigorous technical education with leadership development, discipline, and a durable commitment to public service. The Space Academy will develop a professional corps of civically grounded leaders prepared to advance American interests within the space domain." So there is a part of this that does specifically address working with members of, you know, the military and then giving service obligations for graduates, including service in the armed forces or civilian federal service.
Ethan Cook: Yup.
Maria Varmazis: So it is not -- this is not a direct pathway to the military necessarily, nor do you have to be in the military necessarily to join the Space Academy. Again, this is going to be a NASA-led federal --
Ethan Cook: Yes.
Maria Varmazis: -- thing. So I actually am not totally far off when thinking of this as Starfleet Academy. Like, all right, go me, which is -- this is pretty neat, pretty exciting. So to your point, Ethan, this would, when established, if successful -- you know, we all wish it the best -- would genuinely be a great pathway to scale up a lot of people in understanding, obviously, space cybersecurity will be a part of it, but also just how space missions work, which is a huge knowledge gap, to your point. This is something that people are always asking. Like, I understand cybersecurity really well. I don't understand how space missions work. It's not really easy to learn about this unless somebody has already been in this world for a while. And that kind of institutional knowledge behind a wall does not really help build the skilled workforce. So this is a very encouraging move. Of course, I have no idea if this has been funded. I don't know what the status of this thing is. This is only --
Ethan Cook: Yeah, it's a month or two old. So it's pretty raw off the ground right now. So I think that's like a wait and see.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: But I think with this, right, like we said, it's not just for the military. There are civil and commercial elements in this.
Maria Varmazis: Yes.
Ethan Cook: But to me, what this order really says is, we are addressing the gap. The gap is there. We acknowledge it, and we are working, and we're going to throw money behind this thing. It's not going to be a military-led effort, because I think they correctly identified that if it was, we're just going to close the gap even -- or make the gap even worse.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: And we're going to open the door up here and say, hey, if a commercial company wants to get training here with an employee, maybe that's an avenue that they can send someone in and get training, right?
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: Or if it's a -- let's say you work over -- you know, you're within the Department of the Interior and you work in their, you know, their IT security wing and you're very interested in that pathway --
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: -- that's something that you can apply and get movement into, even if you've never worked in the military or even one of the, like, military-esque branches, like Homeland or the FBI or CIA.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah. Yup.
Ethan Cook: And I think that's really important, not only for just training up the next generation of practical space workforce, like, let's say, astronauts and engineers, but also getting people in who can really develop systems and technologies that are going to be utilized on a daily basis --
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: -- for the next 20 to 30 years and need to be secure now.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah. Absolutely. And I think this also, if successful, will help combat a longstanding perception I think a lot of people, not just in the United States have, but just globally, that went, "Space equals I want to be an astronaut." So if you don't want to be an astronaut, well, don't -- there's no job for you in space, what's the point in even being interested in this field? And this is something that -- this is even outside of space cybersecurity. How do you explain to people that not everybody who wants to work in this field wants to be an astronaut? I mean, many do. Don't get me wrong. But, you know, I'm just thinking about little Maria, when she was a teenager, she would have loved to go to a space academy, but she also had no interest in being an astronaut because she's just a wimp. So like, I don't have the right stuff, and I never did. And that's okay. But I would have loved to have a pathway into learning more about how space missions work, maybe figuring out my way into, you know, supporting some really cool stuff happening in space without having to literally train to put my body up there, because it ain't happening. So this is really cool.
Ethan Cook: No, absolutely.
Maria Varmazis: Now, while I continue to daydream a bit about, one day, Starfleet Academy, we'll take a quick break. Be right back. And we're back. Moving on now from Space Academy plans to focusing on space cybersecurity in executive orders with producer
Ethan Cook. So let's go -- let's dive into executive orders, because there are at least two from the second Trump administration that are cybersecurity-related, where space gets a mention, and that made my antenna go "whoop."
Ethan Cook: Yup.
Maria Varmazis: Because it's important. So there are two I know that you and I were looking at. Should we start with the -- should we go in chronological order for this one? Let's see. No, they're the exact same date. They're the exact same date.
Ethan Cook: Yeah, I was going to say, I'm pretty sure they came out like within a week of each other.
Maria Varmazis: Same, yeah, no, same day, yeah, same day. So it's Executive Orders 1411 -- no, I can do numbers -- Executive Order 14412 and 14413. So they are right after each other. So the first one is Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks, which was 14412, and that was June 22, 2026. And then, same day, 14413 is Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation. So let's go with Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks.
Ethan Cook: Yeah. So I think when you look at both of these, right, obviously they're both crypto-focused, right?
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: They're correctly identifying that cryptographic algorithms, whether that is for -- the one is for, you know, innovations and development and the other one is for defense, crypto is going to be the foundation for the next probably 10-plus years of avenues for both advancement and crippling someone. So when you look at that security perspective, right, we have looked at crypto, you know, there has been a lot of talk about what the next generation of cryptographic attacks are going to be able to do, right? Whether it's with quantum being able to pretty much destroy every single existing cryptographic algorithm that is being currently used.
Maria Varmazis: Yup.
Ethan Cook: Or on the flip side, you know, the other kind of conversation that's happening, which is a lot of buy-now/decrypt-later scams where it's, you know, if we can offload three terabytes of data that we know we can't break now from, let's say, a hospital, but in 10 years we'll be able to break it because we'll have the algorithms that can then crack these things, obviously, these have been a major point of contention. And I think it's fair to say the U.S. was behind the eight ball when AI came out. You could argue it still is. But I think what these orders are trying to do is say, unlike AI, which -- whether or not we want to regulate or not is a whole other conversation --
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: -- has the promise to have just crazy advancements in terms of productivity, etc., quantum really doesn't have those promises, right? It has promises that it's going to improve security, change a lot of dynamics for communication, but it's not going to be able to, like, you know, create a project by itself. That's not what quantum technologies are going to do. It's not going to be able to think artificially on itself, like a model or an agentic agent. We're trying to get ahead of these now to ensure that we are properly securing ourselves, because post-quantum reality is already here, and the technologies to actually secure ourselves from these attacks are already kind of being developed. And even taking a lens out from this order, NIST, which is the U.S.'s national -- why am I blanking?
Maria Varmazis: National Institute of Science --
Ethan Cook: Standards and Technology. Man, I totally brain farted there. They've put out post-quantum guidance, right? And they've said, okay, this is what organizations, especially those working within sensitive fields or tied to the government or in the military, right, you all need to be thinking about, and not just thinking about, following through and executing on within the next couple of years. And I think a lot of people, when they look at quantum, it's kind of this running joke within the industry. It's like, ah, we've been saying quantum's been coming for 20 years now. It's been on the cusp for five years --
Maria Varmazis: Chicken Little.
Ethan Cook: -- for 20 years.
Maria Varmazis: Yup, yup, yup, yup, yeah. But it's not -- Yeah. And it's not a coincidence that these two executive orders came out at the exact same time. They're very related to each other. And looking at the advanced cryptographic attacks one first, I can just do a quick, quick control-F, space gets mentioned. Space gets mentioned specifically because of NASA. And that was interesting to me. In the procurement section, it was the Director of the OMB, the Secretary of War, the Administrator of NASA, and the Administrator of General Services in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the DNI Director, and this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is about coordinating efforts to identify cost-saving opportunities and implementing the migration policy for post-quantum cryptography. Policy and strategy. Oh, my gosh, it's a mouthful, it's a mouthful, it's a mouthful.
Ethan Cook: It always is.
Maria Varmazis: So to me, it was interesting when I saw that, going, okay, this is sort of buried in a procurement section. Why is -- I mean, it makes sense that NASA is involved because NASA also -- quantum crypto post -- oh, my God, what a mouthful. Post-quantum cryptography is obviously of interest to NASA as well as pretty much everybody because it's, you know, in terms of not just securing their assets, but also quantum cryptography is something that they are either going to be using or are already using in some capacity.
Ethan Cook: Yup.
Maria Varmazis: So yes, it makes a lot of sense. So this is something that they would also need to be on the ball about. So that was the only --
Ethan Cook: especially when you're considering the sensitive data that is going through space systems, right?
Maria Varmazis: Correct.
Ethan Cook: And only going to become more sensitive and more important. And I think the general understanding is that, while we may not be able to go and address some of the legacy systems, we can get ahead of this now for the future systems that will only inevitably become more important.
Maria Varmazis: Yes. And then flipping over to the literal next number executive order, the Ushering in the Next Frontier of Quantum Innovation. So the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology shall coordinate with the administrator for NASA, as well as the director of the NSA and the heads of other relevant agencies, to identify additional actions to enhance the QCADDS effort. Now, what does that mean? The QCADDS, where is --
Ethan Cook: That's a great question, and I got you.
Maria Varmazis: You got me? Okay.
Ethan Cook: Yes, I do. So the QCADDS effort is the Quantum Computer for Application Development and Discovery Science effort.
Maria Varmazis: Effort. Effort. Effort, yes. Whew. Yeah, QCADDS. So this national effort shall pursue enablement of a quantum computer at a scale intended to initiate the era of quantum-enabled scientific discovery with the intent to deliver at least one such computer to a Department of Energy -- to a Department of Energy, interesting -- facility, and, to the extent possible, make it available to the scientific community. So research, quantum computers for research, already massively important. We've already seen a lot of research happening around that. So it sounds like a bit of a continuation of that, more formalized, of what we've seen there, if I'm understanding that correctly.
Ethan Cook: Yeah. I think it's saying that, hey, we've been doing this for a little bit.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: To no one's surprise, we're going to bring it out a little bit more into the daylight and open the door now to external parties to really get in on this more, at least formally, and they probably have been doing it informally for years.
Maria Varmazis: Yup.
Ethan Cook: But I think, you know, what this order really stood out to me is, you know, the other order talked about security, talked about we need defense. We need to ensure that these technologies not only were designing new spacecraft and systems that utilize them from a security perspective, but also we're able to protect ourselves from an attack perspective. This is saying that we are trying to make sure this technology is used for innovation, that we are trying to get to the point where quantum is going to lead us and our various advanced space groups, NASA, etc., to be able to effectively execute on the missions that we want to and proliferate a quantum ecosystem across the sky, so to speak, orbit.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
Ethan Cook: That we can utilize whenever we want to and effectively for whatever mission we need.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah. And relating to that, I'm looking at Section 5, Subsection B for -- oh, my goodness, don't quote me on that. But it's under Section 5, Deploying Quantum-Enabled Sensors and Networks. And it says in there, "The administrator of NASA shall develop a plan for developing and extending civilian quantum sensing and networking for space applications." Quantum networking, that's also of interest on a cyber level. Again, this is so much outside of my comfort zone in terms of my complete understanding of this.
Ethan Cook: Yeah.
Maria Varmazis: But it's just they're going to develop a plan. They're going to develop some -- a plan for developing. So I guess watch that space, watch that space-space. We're going to see more from NASA, and at some point in the future -- there's no timeline, I think, attached to this one -- but it's something they're going to be looking at more seriously. So I suppose in the future we'll be hearing from NASA about how this might get used in more interesting ways?
Ethan Cook: Yeah. I think that's the right way to think about it. I think, you know, what this is going to be -- this is looking at is saying, how do we get this technology to work for us, right? How do we get ahead of it? How do we make sure that we have the proper technology capabilities in place to use it when we want to use it and that we have the proper scientific minds in on it so we are making sure that we have the best and brightest leading these efforts. And how do we make sure we have the, then, you know, it's great to have the theory. It's great to have the capability. But then how do we actually implement it into the operational capacity?
Maria Varmazis: Yes, absolutely. Ethan, I have been picking your brain for a while, and I got to, first of all, thank you for being my space policy sherpa.
Ethan Cook: Of course, anytime.
Maria Varmazis: Because as I said at the top of our first episode, this is so not my comfort zone, mainly because policy stuff for me is just -- I have a hard time understanding it. So I greatly appreciate you walking me through this.
Ethan Cook: Of course.
Maria Varmazis: And by extension, our audience, because this is stuff that people really do need to understand if they want to understand the direction of all things space industry, not just the United States, but truly what will be influenced globally as well for the foreseeable future. So this is all very helpful context and information. So, Ethan, genuinely, thank you very much.
Ethan Cook: Of course, anytime. This stuff sets the tone. Understanding it is what get you to -- you can understand this stuff, it tells you where the industry is not just going to be in a year, but it's going to probably be in five.
Maria Varmazis: Yeah, or 10, easily.
Ethan Cook: Yeah.
Maria Varmazis: Space moves a little bit slowly, so --
Ethan Cook: True, true.
Maria Varmazis: No, it's all really important stuff. And a disclaimer, that we're not saying this was all of the executive orders that are space-related. These are just the ones -- there are others. These are just the ones that we wanted to discuss. We will put links to literally everything that we have talked about in our show notes and in our newsletters for you as well as other resources and other bits of policy that we didn't even get a chance to discuss that maybe we'll have to do in a future episode.
Ethan Cook: Yeah, absolutely. Anytime.
Maria Varmazis: There's so much for us to dive into, Ethan, so you will have to come back on the mic again to walk us through it and bless us with your wonderful explanations next time. So thank you.
Ethan Cook: Anytime.
Maria Varmazis: Appreciate it, Ethan. Thank you. And that's T-Minus Space Cyber Briefing, brought to you by N2K CyberWire. If you like what you heard today, you will also enjoy our newsletter, Signals in Space. You'll get research and notes pulled together by our producer Ethan Cook, and me, along with this week's top space cyber news stories. Subscribe by visiting thecyberwire.com/newsletters. We would love to know what you think of our show. Your feedback ensures that we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing cybersecurity landscape. If you like our show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. You can also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space@n2k.com. We are proud that N2K CyberWire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector, from the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies. N2K helps cybersecurity professionals grow, learn, and stay informed. As the nexus for discovery and connection, we bring you the people, the technology, and the ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at n2k.com. Thank you for listening to T-Minus. I am your host, Maria Varmazis. This show is produced by Ethan Cook and Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliott Peltzman and Tre Hester, with original music by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Eiben, with content strategy by Ma'ayan Plaut. Peter Kilpe is our publisher. See you next week.
