The Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space ISAC) serves to facilitate collaboration across the space industry. The ISAC is convening a series of cumulative exercises exploring norms and practices for information sharing to allow for safe and effective operations between our sixty-five global members and government partners through the utilization of the initial operational capabilities of the Space ISAC Watch Center. Space ISAC has developed and will now conduct a cybersecurity focused Tabletop Exercise (TTX) based on a compromise of Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) vendors.

The TTX will be conducted in person in Paris, France on April 27, 2023, on the Junior stage from 10:00am – 1:00pm. TTX participants are expected to include Space ISAC members, Space systems hardware/software vendors, and other space industry stakeholders. During the TTX, participants will be divided up into teams that represent a hypothetical GSaaS company, where they will be presented with a scenario in which GSaaS systems experience failures. Teams will be broken down into different roles: Program Manager, Systems/IT Engineer, Logistics, Cyber Engineer, and System Administrator. The objective of the team is to leverage the unique roles and responsibilities of its members in identifying and resolving issues. As they collaborate to address system problems, they must also identify the appropriate timing and content of information to be shared with the wider Space community, to assist those facing similar challenges. To effectively troubleshoot IT systems failures, teams must adhere to a logical flow of diagnostic procedures.

The TTX aims to meet the following objectives:

1. Generate insights into the security considerations surrounding the use of “ground station as a service.”
2. Identify indicators and direct reporting from the ground segment to Space ISAC Watch Center.
3. Discuss how to build more resilient systems within the space sector.
4. Promote Space ISAC’s members and their leadership in the sector.
5. Build awareness of threat information sharing and norms of behavior.
6. Build awareness of threat information sharing tools – CSAP and the Space ISAC Watch Center.
7. Inform the need for actionable intelligence for the space sector.