The space rush will result in tens of thousands of new assets launched within the decade, which will create a "truly enormous" cyber attack surface, said Sam Visner, a technical fellow at the MITRE Corporation.
"We don't have a parochial view, thinking that because [a cyber incident] happened over there [in that industry], it can't happen here [in the space industry]," AIAA's Lee says.
As threats rapidly evolve, digital engineering, manufacturing capacity and robust supply chains are critical to meeting challenges.
"If you try to life-extend a weapon system that was built before the invention of the Internet, and then turn around and ask me why it's not cyber-secure -- I don't know how," Adm. Charles Richard told SASC today.