Satellites carry some of the military’s most sensitive traffic, and two defense electronics firms are betting that orbit-grade cryptography needs a serious upgrade.
Northrop Grumman and Aeronix are joining forces to harden military satellites, starting with the cryptography that guards classified data in orbit. The two companies announced a multimillion-dollar partnership Aug. 12 to build space-based cryptographic systems for secure defense communications.
The work spans applications that protect data stored, transmitted and processed on defense platforms in orbit, plus encryption devices destined for mission systems. Northrop Grumman described the designs as modular and open-architecture, an approach meant to let the hardware slot into different satellites and ground systems without full redesigns.
Keeping the systems updatable matters as threats evolve and as proliferated constellations push data through far more nodes than today’s networks. The push also responds to the quantum computing threat looming over current encryption standards.
The partnership pairs Northrop Grumman’s integration experience with Aeronix’s work in compact, radiation-hardened electronics. Neither company disclosed the investment size or a fielding timeline.
