Committee: United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

Topic 2: Protecting against space-based cyber espionage

Country: Australia
Delegate Name: Jenisha Kanjani
School: Dubai Gem Private School (DGPS)
Space is no longer viewed as a simple support system for military operations on the ground. It's a
separate operational domain from the old air, sea, and land domains, as well as the new cyber domains.
The function of the space domain is vital to military operations in both peace and war, and due to the
heavy reliance on space-based technologies, they are now vital for many motives, including
communication in emergency circumstances. Australians have long made important contributions to
space exploration and development, and it’s first satellite was launched at Woomera on 29 November
1967, making Australia only the third country in the entire world to both, build as well as launch its own
satellite. Cyber espionage strikes have become a major issue for Australia in the previous year, marking
a critical turning point in cyber, they have harmed the reputation of many countries and lead to the
theft of sensitive data, such as personal and financial information, there have been attacks against the
government, that have had the potential to disrupt military operations while leading to the loss of life as
a result of exposed sensitive information.
In terms of resilience, Australia has a long history of assisting the United States and other Five Eyes
allies(UK, Canada and New Zealand) by providing critical space situational awareness (SSA) and space
surveillance missions. This is being supported by new radar and optical space surveillance capabilities
being built near Exmouth, Western Australia. These facilities will aid Australia's participation in the
Combined Space Operations Initiative (CSpO), which began in 2014 and aims to improve space security
cooperation among the Five Eyes countries. The SSA is also a critical responsibility for monitoring space
operations, recognizing possible dangers, and denying an adversary's actions anonymity that might
jeopardize US and partner space access and security. The Australian Government issued its Cyber
Security Strategy in 2016 to ensure its prosperity in an increasingly connected world. For the period up
to 2020, the strategy comprised more than $230 million in expenditures across five action areas,
including a national cyber alliance and better cyber defenses.
Australia is well positioned to contribute more to "burden sharing in orbit" to support credible
space deterrence beyond these SSA and space surveillance activities. Limiting an adversary's ability to
threaten space capabilities is what this entails. Currently, Australia and its Five Eyes partners are relying
on a small number of big, sophisticated, fragile, and expensive satellites. Satellite technology is
progressing toward smaller, more compact designs and "form factors" with increased capabilities.
Additionally, Australia as an individual country is also pursuing a two-pronged strategy: it wants to
improve the resilience of its space capabilities in the face of counter-space threats from adversaries, and
it wants to develop a credible "space deterrent" capacity. This strategy coexists with attempts to build
legal and regulatory frameworks that might provide options for diplomatic engagement as a manner of
dealing with the counterspace capabilities dilemma.
To keep up with the continuously changing operational and commercial environment, space
legislation must be updated. Australia's strong leadership position in the Woomera Manual Project, with
UNOOSA, and supporting space weapons control is critical in this regard. It establishes a diplomatic and
legal framework that supports the dual-track strategy of space resilience and deterrence. Australia, as
an individual country, and together with the support of other countries continues to modernize its space
operations and continues to take steps towards finding more solutions to protect its space race against
cyber espionage.
Bibliography:

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/cyber-security-subsite/files/cyber-security-strategy-2020.pdf
https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/glossary/cyber-espionage
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2020-12/features/enhancing-space-security-time-legally-binding-
measures
https://asiapacificdefencereporter.com/new-satellites-to-boost-australias-national-security-capability/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes
https://www.dgpsmun.com/resources
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/
Publications_Archive/CIB/CIB9798/98cib12