Photo: SpiderOak

SpiderOak has announced another strategic partnership as it looks to provide greater protection for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) networks. It announced April 11 that it is joining forces with Raytheon Technologies’ BBN division to develop and field a new generation of zero-trust security systems for satellite communications in proliferated LEO. SpiderOak’s OrbitSecure solution will be combined with Raytheon BBN’s Distributed, Disrupted, Disconnected and Denied (D4) secure cloud solution to ensure resilience of mesh networks in contested environments.

The combined solution can be applied across multi-vendor constellations despite orbital or malicious dynamics, and will provide maximum resilience and efficiency in difficult or hostile operating environments. This includes cyber and kinetic threats that require on-orbit network and network function redundancy and flexibility. During this one-year effort, Raytheon, Raytheon BBN, SEAKR Engineering, and SpiderOak will integrate the capability developed during phase one into space-qualified hardware with the goal of making it flight-ready.

“This partnership is paving the way toward secure, on-demand, Geostationary Equatorial Orbit network-like pLEO communications. Raytheon’s networking technology ensures that the satellite constellation provides the best routing solution during normal operation, while also dynamically supporting autonomous cross-link routing during disrupted environments. SpiderOak’s technology allows us to maintain distributed secure operations with high efficiency, particularly when the constellation is reconfiguring and paths are not preplanned,” Jason Redi, Raytheon BBN President, said in a statement.