Optimal Satellite Maneuvers for Spaceborne Jamming Attacks

TL;DR

This paper formulates and solves an optimal control problem for a rogue satellite to efficiently jam another satellite's uplink communication, balancing maximal interference with minimal fuel use.

Contribution

It introduces a two-stage optimal control framework for satellite jamming maneuvers, providing explicit trajectories for effective and fuel-efficient interference.

Findings

Optimal trajectories enable effective jamming with minimal fuel.

Simulation results demonstrate successful communication disruption.

Two-stage maneuvering strategy improves jamming efficiency.

Abstract

Satellites are becoming exceedingly critical for communication, making them prime targets for cyber-physical attacks. We consider a rogue satellite in low Earth orbit that jams the uplink communication between another satellite and a ground station. To achieve maximal interference with minimal fuel consumption, the jammer carefully maneuvers itself relative to the target satellite's antenna. We cast this maneuvering objective as a two-stage optimal control problem, involving i) repositioning to an efficient jamming position before uplink communication commences; and ii) maintaining an efficient jamming position after communication has started. We obtain the optimal maneuvering trajectories for the jammer and perform simulations to show how they enable the disruption of uplink communication with reasonable fuel consumption.