Call for Ideas: Cybersecurity Experiments in Orbit
The European Space Agency is pleased to invite researchers, engineers, and innovators to propose experimental ideas for testing new technologies, methods, algorithms, protocols, and techniques in the domain of cybersecurity applied to space systems.
Selected experiments will be conducted on the CyberCUBE, the first European satellite in orbit dedicated to cyber security experiments.
A few words about the CyberCUBE
CyberCUBE is a 3U CubeSat from the European Space Agency dedicated to cybersecurity experiments in orbit, to be launched at an altitude of 590 Km.
The CyberCUBE is equipped with:
- Onboard data monitoring for real-time telemetry/data analysis
- Secure communication channels with configurable parameters
- Software Defined Radio fully reconfigurable
- Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) fully reprogrammable
- A camera that can be used for threat identification
Please download the Technical Note CuberCUBE Experiments Capabilities Overview for more information about the resources available on the CyberCUBE.
The satellite launch is planned on July 2026.
The Call for Ideas
This Call for Ideas seeks innovative experiments to investigate and demonstrate cybersecurity technologies and methods to enhance the resilience, detection, and mitigation of cyber threats affecting space-based infrastructures.
Proposals for experiments can include (but are not limited to) one or more of the following areas:
- Intrusion detection and mitigation for satellite communication systems
- Anomaly detection using onboard data and AI-based techniques
- Resilience mechanisms against cyberattacks targeting satellite operations
- Secure data transmission and encryption strategies
- Threat identification from orbit using the onboard camera
- Demonstration of on-board security mitigations
- Novel approaches to satellite authentication and access control
Submission Guidelines
We welcome academia, industry experts, and independent researchers with expertise in cybersecurity, space systems, and AI/ML for security in space to submit their ideas for in orbit demonstration of cyber security experiments for space systems.
Prospective authors are invited to submit an Abstract (max 500 words) outlining the concept and expected impact, including:
- Description of required onboard resources and testing methodology
- Potential benefits for future space cybersecurity applications
All submissions must written in English.
- Submission deadline: 30th June 2026
- Authors will be notified by the 31th July 2026
To submit the proposal, send an e-mail to cybecube-experiments@esa.int
The selected ideas:
- Will be the first to be demonstrated at the CyberCUBE in orbit, the first European satellite dedicated to cybersecurity experiments in orbit
Join us in pioneering cybersecurity for the next generation of space systems!
The CyberCUBE team