Europe hosts first in-orbit satellite cybersecurity competition

by Sophie Jenkins
London, UK (SPX) Nov 10, 2025

D-Orbit, a leader in orbital logistics, together with mhackeroni, a prominent ethical hacking team, concluded CTRLSpace CTF, Europe's first cybersecurity competition using an operational spacecraft as the testbed. The event, supported by ESA's Security Cyber Centre of Excellence and Security Office, culminated at ESA ESTEC in the Netherlands, where five teams participated in live scenarios aboard the ION Satellite Carrier.

The competition challenged finalists to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in actual spacecraft systems, including interpreting real telemetry data, sending command sequences, and interacting with onboard software to uncover potential security weaknesses. 559 teams took part in the qualifiers, and 660 correct flags were submitted over 25 challenges prepared for the event, with Superflat emerging as the winner.

"Cybersecurity has become a fundamental pillar of the new space economy," said Grazia Bibiano, D-Orbit's Portugal Country Leader. "At D-Orbit, we integrate it from the very first design stages because security cannot be an add-on, it must be built into the DNA of every system we send into orbit."

"Protecting space infrastructure is one of the most complex engineering challenges of our time," said Davide Avanzi, D-Orbit Head of Space and Product Security. "By adopting a security-by-design approach, we ensure mission resilience, data integrity, and trust in the space services of the future."

Daniele Lain at mhackeroni added, "The space environment poses unique issues to the development of engaging challenges." Antonios Atlasis, Head of System Security Section at ESA, commented, "Cybersecurity protection of space missions is not an option. The successful implementation and execution of CtrlSpace CTF not only provided the unique opportunity to students from all over Europe to compete on cybersecurity challenges implemented in real satellites, but it also proved that the implementation of cybersecurity protection measures in satellites is possible, even for the most challenging security scenarios."

The event utilized three active ION satellites for live exploits and telemetry, all executed within secure environments isolated from commercial operations. CTRLSpace CTF united the cybersecurity and space industries to address safeguarding orbital infrastructure as a priority for the emerging space economy.