7-minute read | 1,350 words
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From cyberspace to space-cyber.
In our inaugural episode of our now weekly space-cyber podcast, host Maria Varmazis and producer Ethan Cook discuss how the internet has evolved in space. Previously these services were slow and inconsistent at best, now they have evolved into a viable option for commercial industries, militaries, and governments alike. In this conversation, we start to explore some of the space-specific constraints for securing the internet’s next frontier.
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Space, the internet's next frontier.
This week on T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing: we introduce how LEO and GEO are changing internet access. To understand how to secure the internet in space, we first need to understand how it works. Here, we’re sharing our curated research and additional reading for how we’re learning about how the internet works in non-terrestrial environments.
Does this newsletter spark questions for you? Write to us at space@n2k.com to guide how we’ll continue to explore the internet in space in future podcast episodes and newsletter issues.
For decades, the internet has depended on terrestrial infrastructure solutions like fiber optics, undersea cables, cell towers, and data centers. However, terrestrial infrastructure has clear limits in rural areas, disaster zones, and contested environments where physical networks are difficult to build or maintain. For example, after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, significant portions of terrestrial broadband infrastructure were destroyed or captured, disrupting both civilian access and military communications.
However, with new technologies, the gap between in-orbit and terrestrial broadband is closing. New satellite broadband networks in lower Earth orbit (LEO) are expanding and revolutionizing internet access. As governments, militaries, and commercial enterprises increasingly rely on these networks, the question has evolved not from if internet access from orbit is worth pursuing, but instead to when the next wave will be built, and how it will be secured.
The past.
Standard broadband internet capabilities historically could best be described as ‘bent pipes in space:’ Data is beamed up to a satellite in geosynchronous (GEO) orbit, and that satellite serves as the bent pipe, beaming the data back down to Earth. From a high level, that operational concept hasn’t changed much for decades, though technological improvements and greater RF spectrum allocation have allowed for greater throughput. Companies like Viasat and Hughes Network Systems have existed since the 1970s and were some of the first major companies on the scene for satellite broadband capabilities.
GEO satellites remain foundational to both civilian and military space internet architectures because they combine persistent coverage, wide-area reach, and high-capability payload capacity.
- Persistent “always-on” coverage. GEO satellites operate at higher altitudes, allowing them to hover over fixed points and deliver uninterrupted regional monitoring and communications.
- High-power payloads. GEO satellites can be massive, allowing them to support larger antennas and more powerful equipment, enabling high-throughput communications and continuous monitoring capabilities.
GEO-based satellite broadband also has notable limitations.
- High latency and limited responsiveness. GEO’s distance - approximately 35,000 kilometers above Earth - creates inherent signal delays and makes GEO platforms less suitable for low-latency applications or situations where fast communications are critical.
- Legacy systems. Many GEO systems also carry legacy design risks, including older encryption and authentication standards, outdated software stacks and aging ground station infrastructure.
The traditional “bent pipe” approach dominated the satellite broadband capabilities for decades; however, the introduction of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets in 2010 was a game-changer. These rockets can land and reuse its boosters instead of discarding them, dramatically increasing the launch cadence and decreasing the launch costs. With falling costs, deploying large numbers of smaller satellites in LEO became economically viable. What was previously the domain of government and military has now expanded to commercial and consumer applications in just a few short decades–creating new attack vectors for an emerging critical infrastructure sector.
The present.
LEO satellite internet companies are paving the way with many governments, militaries, and commercial entities looking to utilize or replicate these capabilities. Major companies, like SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon Leo, among others, are all working to create networks in orbits around 200 kms to 2,000 kms above the Earth. These satellites relay data between one another in orbit before it reaches the ground, creating a mesh-like network architecture.
LEO satellites have become an increasingly utilized option trading in GEO’s wide, fixed coverage for stronger performance, responsiveness, and scalability.
- Low-latency communications. Operating much closer to Earth, LEO networks significantly reduce signal delay, enabling real-time application functionality like cloud access and communications.
- High resilience through distribution. Instead of relying on a few large assets, LEO platforms use many smaller satellites, making networks more fault tolerant and less prone to outage concerns.
- Scalability. Constellations can be expanded and refreshed continuously at lower cost than GEO systems.
- Improved global coverage for remote areas. Dense LEO networks can provide connectivity to areas underserved by terrestrial infrastructure, including oceans, polar regions, and disaster and war zones.
Beyond commercial companies, like Starlink, there are a series of companies, like Rivada, that are using LEO technologies as a backbone to support government and defense use cases. At the same time, the Space Development Agency has continued to develop and expand upon its Tranche programs, which aim to create a proliferated LEO network that can support missile tracking, secure communications, and data transportation across orbit.
NASA has also pursued similar goals for LEO WiFi capabilities. In 2025, Solstar and Momentus Space began to work together to provide data relay and WiFi hotspot capabilities for spacecraft via commercial satellite constellations. In March 2026, Momentous and Solstar demonstrated early in-space connectivity capabilities through the Vigoride-7 mission, testing orbital data relay infrastructure for future spacecraft networking.
However, though LEO satellites do provide significant advantages they do have downsides. LEO networks require continuous satellite handoffs, dynamic routing, and extensive coordination, making them significantly more complex to operate than GEO systems. Additionally, with these large mesh networks, the number of satellites expands the attack surface for malicious actors.
As these systems scale, the next wave may not be defined by who can provide the fastest speeds, but by whose networks are most resilient and consistent. As LEO networks continue to become a greater part of broadband services, these networks will likely become a piece of critical infrastructure for governments and an increasingly more valuable target for threat actors.
This week’s space-cyber headlines.
The news stories we’re reading and thinking about this week.
Japan’s space systems face growing cybersecurity threats. May 13, 2026.
- On the CyberWire Daily, Brandon Karpf details how Japan has been changing its approach to cybersecurity, space, and critical infrastructure.
- Japan has been investing significantly in recent years to improve their involvement in these core sectors growing expertise, resources, and personnel capabilities.
Anthropic, SpaceX announce compute deal that includes space development. May 6,2026.
- Anthropic’s new deal with SpaceX will allow the use of all of its compute capacity in the company’s Colossus 1 data center.
- Anthropic will get access to more than 300 megawatts of compute capacity.
Startup wants to run AI inference from space. May 11, 2026.
- Orbital Inc. is designing infrastructure for AI inference, where trained models generate outputs.
- Orbital aims to build space-based data centers through a mesh constellation of small satellites in LEO.
Cowboy Space raises $275 million to launch AI data centers on brand-new rocket. May 12, 2026.
- Cowboy Space, previously known as Aetherflux, has raised $275 million in a Series B round to support the launch of solar-powered AI data centers in orbit.
- With the funding, the company aims to create a constellation of satellites, called Stampede, to support the world's demand for AI computing.
