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Towards More Complete Space Domain Awareness

How RF Data Can Fill the Gaps in Traditional SDA Techniques Towards More Complete Space Situational Awareness How RF Data Can Fill the Gaps in Traditional SDA Techniques When a Russian satellite recently parked close Situational Awareness (SDA) has taken on based capabilities, to de-conflicting space between two commercial satellites, then moved heightened importance. Given the pace traffic, to battle damage assessment. This near a third months later, its actions were deemed of emerging threats and a more cluttered operational picture requires that SDA reckless and irresponsible by the international and collision-prone environment, SDA is effectively detect objects, determine the community. Maneuvering within kilometers of one challenged to stay ahead of a mounting array intent of their activities and identify all of vulnerabilities. potential high-risk conjunctions and other satellite, its unknown mission raised alarms and threat behaviors. intensified concerns. Absent information about the This paper addresses how the addition of Russian satellite’s planned maneuvers, payload use Radio Frequency (RF) data can enhance As with any domain, gaining an ‘awareness’ or intent, operators could not know how to maintain the speed, accuracy, and insight of SDA, or understanding of active space is predicated safe distance or take other appropriate actions. The filling in the gaps of traditional techniques. on completeness of information. To date, risks in space are growing, especially alongside the The addition of the RF data domain—the SDA has relied primarily on two main sensor marked rise in the sophistication and intent among information about satellite signals—can types for data; Ground-based Radar and nation-states such as Iran and North Korea to disrupt provide a more thorough and predictive Electro-Optical (EO). Each offers respective space operations. awareness of the space environment. strengths, but also limitations and gaps.

As space operations have become essential The Limits of Traditional SDA • Ground-based Radar excels at to applications, ranging from global Space Situational Awareness provides capturing objects moving through low communications and commerce to enabling the foundation for all space doctrine, earth orbit, extending to defense and intelligence operations, Space from protecting and defending space- approximately 1,200 miles above the

1 - Towards More Complete Space Domain Awareness earth’s surface. However, given power considerations, few radar can RF Data Power Equivalent detect objects in geosynchronous Modulation Type Error Bit Rate (GEO) orbit (22,000 miles). Bandwidth Data Rate Backoff Power EIRP • Electro-Optical, or telescopic C/N: Carrier to Noise Bandwidth Es/No observation, can image satellites in Symbol Rate Center Frequency Eb/No the geostationary orbit, however, only FEC Detection C/I at certain times and optimal conditions— that is, at night, against RF data monitored and collected for multiple bands and frequencies by a worldwide network of sensors and antennas can be used to determine the Location, Health, Usage and Attribution of space assets. a clear dark sky free of clouds and other obscuring weather. These RF capabilities fill the blindspots RF data improves current SDA capabilities of existing SDA sensors, while providing by: Enhancing SDA with RF Data additional knowledge to enrich insight. • delivering persistent surveillance Radio Frequency (RF) data— the electro- of GEO and non-GEO satellites and magnetic spectrum used by space systems RF data has been in use for years to support maintaining chain of custody of high to communicate—can be used to enhance space operations, from monitoring payload interest systems. traditional SDA, offering a wealth of performance and usage, to detecting • detecting satellite maneuvers in real- information absent from other sensors. and geolocating interference, and to time and identifying their accurate For example, a satellite maneuvering in supplementing government monitoring location for conjunction assessment, geostationary orbit is beyond the detection networks. In theory, this data always held collision avoidance, and safety of flight. of radar, and goes unseen by telescopes significant value for SDA, but in practice • identifying anomalies in payload system in the bright light of day. However, its wasn’t available at scale due to limited performance, and assessing their impact RF transmission can be used to detect sensor coverage and spotty infrastructure. determining the capabilities of friendly maneuvers and anomalies, day or night and Now, with commercial global monitoring and adversarial space assets. in all weather conditions. Further, RF can available, RF data can be collected for the • characterizing satellite patterns and characterize behaviors, attributing whether complete geostationary arc at all times, behaviors, and identifying aberrations an unexpected maneuver represents the 24/7/365, providing unique insights that that can be alarmed and acted upon. patterns of adversarial intent, or the drift elude detection or characterization by caused by an onboard system malfunction. traditional sensors. When fused with traditional SDA data, the RF-inclusive combination offers a more complete and accurate real-time picture of satellites, their activities, and the impact to users of these systems.

Inside the Unique RF Footprint RF Data Electro-Optical RF data is monitored and collected from satellite uplinks and downlinks from sensors and antennas networked worldwide in S, C, X, Ku, and Ka bands. The Ground-Based Radar phenomenology of the signal externals— or waveforms—is represented by over a The two main sensor types for SDA data: Radar and Electro-Optical (EO). Each offers strengths, but also limitations. RF data can fill the gaps to enhance SDA. dozen measures. These include: directional RF power, center frequency, signal-to-

Towards More Complete Space Domain Awareness - 2 Predictive Analytics to Uncover the Unexpected RF Signal measures provide a new data domain for SDA: Using machine learning and pattern recognition algorithms, RF data can be used What’s Required to Convert RF data into SDA Intelligence? to establish the normal, expected behaviors of space objects, such as routine station- keeping and the frequency of maneuvers. By monitoring deviations from these patterns, those that are atypical or anomalous can a global sensor a well-staffed, advanced analytics, be detected and alerted for more pre- network to collect state-of-the-art RF including machine emptive threat awareness and space traffic RF data in multiple operations center learning and AI, to management. bands/frequencies to aggregate and enhance the data for across the complete integrate that data. real-time awareness, geosynchronous arc. predictive insights, RF Applications to SDA: Health & Usage historical trending RF data provides numerous insights on and patterns of life. payload performance and status, that is: when systems are operating nominally, when they’ve changed or degraded and to noise, carrier-to-noise and many more. maneuvers can be detected as they occur what degree. Insight on payload use and These signal metrics can be interpreted to in real-time. Satellite position and range the ability to detect and characterize the determine the Location, Health, Usage and can then be determined by both passive and patterns in their use offers unique additive Attribution of space assets, supporting the active ranging techniques that compare the value absent from traditional sensor data. functional requirements of SDA. time it takes for signals to reach sensors at multiple locations. These highly accurate RF Detecting Anomalies & Cause RF Applications to SDA: Location methods enable new orbits to be determined RF metrics can reveal the extent of a By rapidly scanning the geostationary arc and propagated for conjunction assessment performance anomaly and its cause. For in multiple bands, RF supports new object and awareness of other proximate objects. example, slow, gradual variations in normal discovery and threat awareness. Whereas baseline measures might indicate equipment optical sensors (telescopes) can only locate RF location updates like these, combined wear or changes in user requirements. More and measure range from other point of light and correlated with optical and radar sudden or severe RF signal deviations, on references, i.e., against stars in the night sensor data, help maintain the accuracy and the other hand, may uncover a polarity sky, RF data can detect maneuvers and currency of the space catalog for collision issue, adjacent satellite interference, locate transmitting objects at all times and avoidance and safety of flight. payload system failure, jamming or a in all weather conditions. This persistent monitoring of the geosynchronous orbit, similar to a ‘neighborhood watch,’ maintains chain of custody for satellites and systems of interest that can evade other sensors.

How RF ‘Detects, Tracks & Identifies’ As a satellite moves, its RF signals exhibit a small Doppler shift. This change in the signal’s Center Frequency indicates movement and positional change. By monitoring these frequency shifts satellite Doppler shifts detected in the RF signal of a satellite indicate its movement at specific times.

3 - Towards More Complete Space Domain Awareness directed energy attack. This ability to detect payload or other operational irregularities and their origin accelerates response and resolution. For example, operators would know whether to re-route traffic to bypass an equipment issue, or to focus efforts on geo-locating an unauthorized broadcaster to eliminate interference.

Insights on Satellite Use RF data about transponder and communication links provides a unique understanding of the amount, type, and nature of traffic on payloads. Metrics about a transponder’s capacity and loading helps users and operators conduct more efficient payload operations. Additional signal characterization can help determine the Clustering algorithms classify the types of RF traffic from a satellite. The color-coded bubbles represent the nature of an asset’s transmission, whether numerous channels and types of traffic being carried. its mission supports video broadcast or UAV operations, for example, and whether Assessing Capabilities VSAT terminals, misconfigured gateways, a large spike in bandwidth and upload of In addition to detecting performance intruding signals from neighboring satellites, a certain traffic type is an indication or issues, these insights also inform battle or the “blue’ or friendly interference that warning. damage assessment. This helps characterize can often happen in naval fleets or on the the capabilities of friendly, neutral, and battlefield. RF can also proactively measure enemy space systems, including the impact the frequency ‘noise’ of an orbital slot and effect of offensive or counterspace prior to moving a satellite to it, so it can operations. For example, a transponder’s be adequately prepared to avoid subsequent change in signal power, carrier-to-noise, and interference. symbol rate would reveal its reduced traffic- carrying capacity, and as a consequence, the Determining Cause & Intent satellite’s diminished mission capabilities. RF techniques such as Time Difference of Arrival and Frequency Difference of Arrival RF Applications to SDA: Attribution are becoming increasingly more accurate, The Power of Combined RF monitoring immediately detects any geo-locating interference to within a few kilometers. With additional signal RF + Optical Sensors: disruption to satellite signals whether originating in orbit or on the ground, characterization, using measures such as RF monitoring recently detected a whether intentional or inadvertent. While Modulation Type and Symbol Rate, the type performance anomaly, where all there are a realm of threats to satellites, of modem can be fingerprinted and the carrier traffic disappeared from a accidental interference is the most common carrier identified to help narrow attribution satellite’s transponders. Optical disruption. RF techniques can characterize to an entity or organization. In the case of sensors later visually confirmed field and identify interfering activities, whether inadvertent interference, resolution often debris from an onboard event. due to the congestion of proliferating entails simple coordination with an owner

Towards More Complete Space Domain Awareness - 4 precursors of hostile actions by rogue states. Fusing these RF analytics with other sensor, open source, and intelligence data can provide decision-makers the information to get ahead of mission threats, such as triggering maneuvers to avert a collision, or to counter an expected RF attack.

RF Advances SDA for a New Space Era Space systems are exposed to a growing array of threats; from potential collisions and spectrum interference as more satellites RF data is collected and analyzed over a period of time. The color-coded symbols indicate transmissions that share common similar sets of RF features. are launched and activated, to adversaries developing new techniques to disrupt and or operator to reconfigure an antenna or • Analyzing payload performance disable US and ally space operations. These terminal; whereas intentional jamming baselines and systems status can challenges have placed more urgency on can employ RF capabilities to mitigate and identify the capabilities and status of advancing the timely, complete picture cancel out the interfering beam. friendly and adversary satellites. required of SDA. • Automated classification of bandwidth Adding Value with Data Science and use, transmission type, and timing can Now with the unique capabilities of RF to Algorithm Development help identify satellite modems, payload persistently detect, locate, and characterize Just as RF methods have been honed over activities, and attribute behavior. space systems, new levels of insight can the years to support satellite mission be added beyond what’s possible with performance and interference detection, This type of machine-speed data collection traditional sensors and data. As space new RF techniques are being developed to and analysis supports more predictive continues to undergo profound change, exploit its value for SDA. With the right warning, extending lead times and RF can enhance SDA to support the more analytics, machine learning, and artificial knowledge for appropriate response. predictive and pre-emptive posture needed intelligence tools, skilled scientists and For example, early detection of satellite for this new era. professionals can characterize RF data interference from RF, correlated with other to identify the attributes of satellites, events, such as cyber disruptions and upticks predict the maneuvers or actions they may in social media activity, could indicate undertake, and discern intentions. For example: • Machine learning applied to payload, Combined Space Operations Center Coordinates With U.S. and Allies on usage, and maneuver data can detect Potential Threats The Combined Space Operations Center (CSpOC) provides command and control anomalous conditions and patterns of of space forces for United States Space Command’s Combined Force Space interest. Component Command. In addition to being composed of U.S. military members, the CSpOC also coordinates space operations with U.S. allies and commercial • Long-term trending and characterizing space organizations, as well as performing orbit determination activity necessary of RF signals can establish patterns to maintain the US space catalog. Kratos provides continuous RF monitoring services for government leased bandwidth on commercial satellites and and changes in satellite and bandwidth on military satellite communications; including bandwidth identified by CSpOC. Kratos also interference locations, including the supports resolving interference events through employment of mitigation strategies and geolocation activities. Monitoring services provide the U.S. Government the ability to efficiently utilize leased terminal types, waveforms, and bandwidth, saving money and resources while ensuring that critical satellite communication links stay recurring violators involved. operational.

5 - Towards More Complete Space Domain Awareness Kratos SDA Services Fill the Gaps

Kratos operates the most extensive, workforce skilled in RF spectrum employs a robust cloud-based architecture, fully-integrated, commercial global RF management and SDA techniques. offering the highest levels of enterprise monitoring network, which has been security, transport, and analytic computing helping government and commercial • Data Science & Algorithm to support global reach for SDA networking, customers detect and resolve RF spectrum Development: Kratos’ advanced analyses, and data integration. Kratos challenges for years. This custom developed analytics and AI tools process RF data helps you leverage a complete commercial infrastructure includes: for real-time SDA awareness, predictive enterprise infrastructure without the insights, historical trending, and maintenance and operational costs and • Global Sensor Network: Kratos’ patterns of life. Fused and correlated concerns. extensive global network currently with data from optical/radar/ terrestrial consists of 21 worldwide RF monitoring and space-based sensors, this provides Market leading products such as Monics®, sites, hosting more than 80 fixed and more timely, accurate, and complete SatGuard®, satID® and Compass® are steerable sensors and antennas in SDA. integrated with specially developed C and Ku bands, as well as X and S. analytics to create Enhanced SDA Services Using unique state-of-the-art sensors, Advanced technologies developed by and for both government and industry. the network is tuned for high-speed, exclusive to Kratos have been integrated accurate RF signal collection and into all levels of this cutting-edge Enhanced RF SDA Services from Kratos measurement. infrastructure, from custom algorithms include: employed in the sensor network, to industry- • RF Interference Mitigation • Advanced Network Operations Center: leading commercial applications used in • RF Situational Awareness Kratos’ 24/7/365 Network Operations the NOC for data monitoring, correlation • Correlative/Predictive Analytics Center (NOC) is the central hub for and geolocation, to specially-developed • Bandwidth Utilization monitoring and integrating raw RF data analytics that provide the real meaning from its global sensor network. The NOC behind the raw data. For more information, contact: incorporates automated workflows, Underlying these capabilities, Kratos [email protected]. tasking, and visualization that support Kratos’ dedicated, experienced

Kratos’ extensible global network consists of 21 worldwide RF monitoring sites, hosting more than 80 sensors and antennas and is specially tuned for high-speed, accurate RF signal collection and measurement.

Towards More Complete Space Domain Awareness - 6 About Kratos

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) develops transformative, affordable technology for the Department of Defense and commercial customers. Kratos is changing the way breakthrough technology for these industries are brought to market through proactive research and a streamlined development process. Kratos specializes in unmanned systems, satellite communications, cyber security/warfare, microwave electronics, missile defense, training and combat systems. For more information, go to www.KratosDefense.com.

HEADQUARTERS SDA SOLUTIONS Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Kratos 10680 Treena Street 12515 Academy Ridge View 6th Floor Colorado Springs, CO 80921 San Diego, CA 92131 +1 719.598.2801 www.KratosDefense.com [email protected]

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