Hack Space Con 2026

NASA's Kennedy Space Center has always been high on my list of places to visit. I never imagined, however, that I'd have the opportunity not only to go there, but to give a lecture at Hack Space Con at the same time.

At Hack Space Con, I gave a talk about how space might be hard, but space security isn't. Here's the abstract:

The frequency of space missions has been increasing in recent years, raising concerns about security breaches and cyber threats to satellites. Each space mission relies on highly specialized hardware and software components that communicate through dedicated protocols and standards developed for mission-specific purposes. Numerous potential failure points exist across both the space and ground segments, any of which could compromise mission integrity. Given the critical role that space-based infrastructure plays in modern society, every component involved in space missions should be recognized as an essential part of infrastructure and afforded the highest level of security consideration.

This talk highlights a subset of vulnerabilities that we identified over the last couple of years across both ground-based systems and onboard spacecraft software. We will provide an in-depth analysis of our findings, demonstrating the impact of these vulnerabilities by showcasing our PoC exploits in action, including their potential to grant unauthorized control over targeted spacecraft. We will explain the vulnerability discovery and exploitation process, illustrating the real-world implications of these security flaws.

This time, the gods of live demos weren't so gracious. Literally everything that could go wrong did go wrong - from a corrupted environment, to the entire VM freezing, to having to replace the laptops, all live on stage. It was stressful but also fun, the crowd was great, and in the end, everything worked out just fine.

I had a fantastic time reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Spending time with fellow space hackers is always enjoyable - but doing it at Kennedy Space Center made it truly special. Can't wait for the next one!