The Aerospace Corporation UK Ltd. (Aerospace UK) is engaging the space industrial base to help inform the development of a next generation -in space testbed focused on security, resilience- and cyber experimentation.
At the centre of the effort is a Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry insight into the design, development and potential procurement of an on-orbit testbed: a secure spacecraft paired with a reconfigurable cyber payload. The platform is intended to support realistic experimentation, training and validation of defensive cyber operations in the space environment, enabling participants to explore threats, protections, and system responses under real-world operational conditions.
Aerospace UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Aerospace Corporation, located in London, England, has released the RFI to better understand current industry capabilities, approaches and considerations that could inform such a platform.
“Commercial space brings pace, ingenuity and a readiness to challenge established ways of working, all of which are essential for an effort like this,” said David Sandy, UK Managing Director of The Aerospace Corporation UK. “At the same time, success depends on drawing on the collective strengths of the wider space community. Bringing those perspectives together will be key to shaping a platform that is resilient, adaptable and relevant as the threat environment continues to evolve.”
Strengthening On-Orbit Security and Resilience
The concept builds on lessons from pioneering efforts such as Moonlighter, a cyber test platform developed by Aerospace in partnership with the U.S. Space Force and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Moonlighter was demonstrated at the Hack-a-Sat competition, where Aerospace collaborated with the wider cybersecurity community to enable experimentation directly in orbit.
These efforts highlighted how real-world factors such as latency, constrained resources, and operational complexity fundamentally shape how space systems are attacked, defended, and recovered. They also underscored the limits of ground-based testing alone. The new RFI seeks to build on this foundation by exploring a more flexible and scalable platform that could support a broader range of users, mission scenarios, and sustained experimentation over time.
“Opening the door to partnership opportunities with both emerging and established players across the commercial space sector allows us to accelerate innovation in support of new mission capabilities,” said Pamela Wood, a Senior Project Leader at The Aerospace Corporation. “This RFI will help us better understand cost, schedule, and risk considerations as we assess options for integrated solutions that improve mission assurance and deliver operationally relevant impact.”
Shaping a Foundational Architecture for Space Experimentation
The envisioned system brings together two priorities that are often treated separately: protection and vulnerability mitigation. On one hand, the spacecraft bus must be secure, reliable, and capable of safe operations over a multi-year mission in low Earth orbit. On the other, the hosted cyber payload is intentionally designed to expose representative attack surfaces, enabling experimentation across defensive techniques, system responses, and mission-level effects.
Balancing these elements is central to the concept. The platform must allow meaningful experimentation without compromising mission integrity, providing a controlled environment in which innovation can be explored while maintaining safety and reliability.
The scope of the RFI is deliberately broad. Rather than prescribing a single architecture or operational concept, Aerospace UK is seeking to understand the full spectrum of current industry capabilities and approaches. Respondents are invited to propose flexible and innovative contributions, ranging from complete, integrated platforms to specific elements such as spacecraft subsystems, cyber payload designs, ground segment capabilities, or operational concepts.
The objective is to identify partners with strengths in secure-by-design systems, cyber experimentation, mission operations and integration, as well as those experienced in enabling international collaboration within applicable regulatory, and export control frameworks.
Access and contact:
· To access the RFI document, click here.
· Questions may be directed to (UK Contact): contact@aerospacecorp.uk
Note: This RFI is issued for information-gathering purposes only. No contract will be awarded as a direct result of responses.