Efficient Automated Key Management for pLEO Operations

Both the U.S. Government and industry are pushing towards Proliferated Low-Earth Orbit (pLEO) constellations with thousands of satellites. The Space Development Agency’s (SDA’s) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) needs to encrypt and transport huge volumes of critical data, like Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR). A more efficient and automated method of securely managing these hyper-scaled satellites without increasing Satellite Operations Center (SOC) staffing. New quantum computing and cybersecurity threats are driving Government cybersecurity initiatives like Network Established Beyond the Upper Limits of the Atmosphere (NEBULA), Cryptographic Modernization (CM2), Zero Trust (ZT), and Raise-the-Bar Cross Domain Solutions (RTB CDS) -- but SOC Key Management Systems (KMS) have not kept up to support pLEO.Arkham Technology has developed new KMS automation software called the KMI Key Vault (KKV) to universally manage high-assurance devices, like Space Internet Protocol Encryptors (SIPEs) or space CDS, to securely deliver cryptographic keys, certificates, firmware updates, and cybersecurity policies.  Initial versions of KKV are currently being embedded in DARPA and U.S. Air Force programs. It embeds our mature KMI automation technology proven by the U.S. Navy, and complies with all of the cybersecurity initiatives described above. The KKV integrates our Cryptography for Hyper-scale Architectures in a Robust Internet of Things (CHARIOT) technology and classified cloud DevSecOps to scale the cybersecurity management of thousands of pLEO satellites in future PWSA and commercial constellations, while minimizing the SOC staff required to oversee resilient, geographically dispersed, operations.The proposed effort adapts KKV as a prototype KMS for SDA PWSA SOC applications. Our teammate has an operational SOC at a University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC), which will be used as a KKV test platform to demonstrate how KKV makes cybersecurity management more automated and scalable to pLEO operations.