CYBERSECURITY FOR SPACE COGNITIVE CLOUD COMPUTING: THREAT MODELING, ZERO TRUST COMMUNICATIONS, AND ONBOARD AI SECURITY

This thesis investigates the main cybersecurity vulnerabilities arising from the transition toward federated Space Cloud architectures, in which services are distributed across satellites, ground infrastructures, and multiple domains. Using Planetek's DTTaH mission and AIx sofware, it identifies key attack vectors, develops a threat model and propose a secure network protocol for the satellite system. A simulation environment is developed to model realistic cyberattacks on the satellite mission, enabling the analysis of their impact on system operations. The results highlight major security weaknesses and support the evaluation of potential countermeasures.