Students operate the 3-satellite constellation with an active communications relay payload. This exercise focuses on the Cyber exposure domain through a malicious firmware update that targets the payload processor, causing anomalous transponder reconfiguration. Students must detect the anomaly through payload telemetry, isolate the affected system, and initiate recovery procedures.

Students configure transponders, monitor link margins, manage the power budget, and track user traffic across the communications relay payload. This phase builds familiarity with payload telemetry and establishes the baseline against which anomalies will be detected.

A firmware update causes anomalous transponder reconfiguration: unexpected frequency changes and power level modifications appear across multiple channels. Students must detect the anomaly through link margin and power telemetry, then execute the response sequence.

This exercise introduces the Cyber domain. Instructors should:

The following questions will help finalize this exercise design. We welcome any additional recommendations.

Cyber threats exploit software, firmware, and network vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access, modify configurations, exfiltrate data, or deny services. In the space domain: command injection through compromised ground systems, malicious firmware updates to flight software or payload processors, data exfiltration from mission systems, and denial of service through network flooding or protocol exploitation. Cyber attacks can be persistent, stealthy, and difficult to attribute.

Students completing this exercise will have practiced payload operations and responded to a Cyber domain threat. Three single-domain exercises are now complete. Module 9 introduces the first multi-domain exercise: Contested Space Operations combining Kinetic and Electronic Warfare.