When I hear the phrase “space piracy”, the first thought that comes to mind is the science fiction stories of my youth which targeted a juvenile audience. In stark contrast, Marc Feldman and Hugh Taylor’s new book, “SPACE PIRACY: Preparing for a Criminal Crisis in Orbit” approaches the issue with deadly seriousness. They have written a non-fiction book in which they define a perceived problem and offer a variety of policy-oriented remedies. In their book, they strongly make the case that space piracy is not just a possibility but that it is a virtual certainty that will soon emerge as a major threat to both the growing space economy and to global national security. Quoting from the book’s inside flap:
“As space becomes increasingly commercialized, the potential for crime, corruption, and war outside of Earth’s confines becomes ever more pronounced. In Space Piracy: Preparing for a Criminal Crisis in Orbit, a team of veteran technology and aerospace professionals delivers an incisive and practical discussion of how to consider, analyze, and solve a variety of problems caused by bad actors involving space-based assets… Space Piracy explains the practical impacts of attacks against software, data, networks, and hardware and discusses how well existing cybersecurity standards adapt to the realities of best practices in space. It explores the different sorts of criminals and criminal organizations that may attempt to pursue criminal activity in space, like cartels, kidnappers, “devicenappers,” and even governments.”
Over the course of the book, the authors make the case that the combination of the ongoing rise in the economic size of the space sector and the lack of a well defined legal regime with respect to criminal activity leads to conditions that are ripe for acts of piracy, and that ignoring this risk represents a grave mistake with potentially catastrophic long-term consequences.
In reading and reviewing this book, my primary interest was one of concern about the impact of criminality on the economic stability of commercial space activities. My other concern was with the impact on that economic activity of the regulatory and policing environment that is implemented to combat criminality. This latter concern arises from the fact that legislation and regulations that are implemented to provide some positive value frequently have the opposite effect and/or unanticipated negative side effects. This challenge is also recognized by the book’s authors when they state that “bad policies tend to harden and become difficult to change.”
The Book’s Authors: Marc Feldman and Hugh Taylor
The book’s two authors are well qualified to address the subject of space piracy. Marc Feldman is executive director of the Center for the Study of Space Crime, Piracy, and Governance (CSCPG) and for the last 10 years has been involved in aerospace/space and defense-based venture capital concerns. He has more than thirty-five years of experience in commercializing technologies and scaling startups.
Hugh Taylor is the author of 10 books about cybersecurity, business, and technology. A Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Taylor was the executive editor of the Journal of Cyber Policy for six years. Hugh was also a lecturer at the University of California’s Berkeley’s School of Information and School of Law.
Content Organization
The book’s table of contents is organized as follows:
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 A Not-So-Unlikely Scenario Coming to the Space Near You
- 2 Learning from Piracy’s Long and Rich History
- 3 The Coming Multitrillion Dollar Space Economy
- 4 Space Piracy: Overview of a Serious, Looming Threat
- 5 Space Hacking: Current Realities and Future Lessons for Space Piracy
- 6 The Space Law, Policy, and Treaty Landscape
- 7 Criminal Organizations That Might Pursue Space Piracy
- 8 The Potential Impact of Space Piracy on National Security
- 9 Commercial Risks and Impacts of Space Crime and Piracy
- 10 Policy Recommendations and Countermeasures to Mitigate the Risk of Space Piracy
- Conclusion: We Need to Talk
- Bibliography
- Index
A Summary of Space Piracy’s Main Arguments
The book’s main argument is that piracy as a form of criminal activity is an endemic human activity that flourishes in weakly governed “commons” areas where valuable assets are in transit along predictable routes in areas where they can be intercepted with minimal risk to those engaged in piracy. Just as conditions in the past (and today) have made piracy a profitable endeavor, the authors contend that piracy will appear in outer space as that region becomes a region of wealth creation and host to a variety of unguarded, valuable assets. In the high tech environment of outer space, the nature of space piracy will take on new forms, beginning with cyber attacks (being the act of attempting to gain unauthorized access to a computer system or network for the purpose of stealing data or interfering with its operations) that target vulnerable satellite software and ground systems. The threat environment could expand to include kinetic attacks on space infrastructure and/or Earth-based space assets, as well as attempts at hijacking and ransoming space assets, including satellites, vehicles, and payloads. Feldman and Taylor make it clear that space piracy will be much more complex, technologically advanced, and expensive to conduct than traditional piracy.
The authors also contend that the most likely perpetrators of these acts of space piracy will be criminal cartels that possess the necessary wealth, organization, and strategic resolve, possibly operating with the backing of nation-states (think hackers working in conjunction with the Russian government) or employing hired mercenaries. The potential for criminals to take over or utilize legitimate space businesses through corrupt insiders or other means is also recognized as a vulnerability.
With respect to policy issues, a central theme of the book is that currently there is a severe inadequacy in terms of the legal and policy environments that exist with respect to addressing events (criminal and otherwise) that occur in outer space. While international law and treaties like the United Nations Outer Space Treaty provide a basic foundation, they were designed as a solution for the Cold War Space Race between the United States and the USSR. They lack the overall coherence and clarity on jurisdiction and sovereignty issues, as well as the effective enforcement mechanisms that are needed to deter and combat space crime as well as to address issues between the many private commercial entities that now operate in space. The authors warn that problematic maritime practices, such as “flags of convenience”, are likely to emerge in space, further complicating legal and enforcement efforts due to the absence of a genuine link requirement between registry and responsibility found in maritime conventions
With respect to the “flags of convenience” issue, the book’s introduction contained the following statement that I found intriguing:
“A 1952 Collier’s Magazine article asked, “Who Owns the Universe?” and anticipated the threat of pirates operating in space.”
Being in possession of a copy of that article (“Who Owns the Universe?” by Oscar Schachter in the 22 Mar. 1952 Man Will Conquer Space Soon! issue of Collier’s Magazine), I decided to give it a read as too many years had elapsed since my last reading of that article – which was one of a series of space articles in that very famous issue of Colliers. Various issues raised by Oscar Schachter are quite relevant today and even though the article is over 70 years old, it is still worth reading. With respect to the issue of piracy, this is what the article has to say:
“And if control is to be exercised, how should it be made compatible with the principle of freedom of outer space which we have urged? The best way to meet this problem, it seems to me, is to begin with the idea that each space craft must bear the flag of a particular country; that is, it must have a nationality…If a ship tried to evade this rule, it would be in the same position as a pirate of old and it would be subject to seizure by any government able to lay hands on it. By requiring that each space craft have a nationality and a flag, it becomes possible to supervise and control them.”
My reading is that the article does not anticipate the threat of pirates undertaking criminal operations in space but rather argues that space craft that are not identifiable as belonging to a specific nation should be treated as though they were pirates. To date, this has not been an issue
Another of the book’s central themes is that space piracy poses a significant threat to not just commercial space operations but to national security as well. For my part, I see the threats to national security as coming mainly from state-sponsored criminals and the threats to commercial space interests as coming from a combination of mostly state-sponsored criminals and, to a much, much lesser degree, organized crime.
Much of the book is devoted to describing the wide range of potential forms of criminal activity, including the hijacking of space tourism flights. The categories of potential criminal behavior within which the authors see crime/piracy occurring are:
- the disruption of space operations at Earth-based ground centers, etc.
- the theft of equipment or space cargoes, be they in space or at the launch or return site
- the disruption of satellite communications
- the in-space disruption of orbital serving industries
- the hacking of space information systems whether in space or on the ground
- the disruption of space-related communications systems
- the disruption of satellite operations
- physical acts to sabotage or destroy satellites and/or other orbital infrastructure
- boarding and taking over space stations or space manufacturing facilities, including those on the Moon
- taking over and ransoming space-based assets
The authors devote considerable attention to the issues associated with computer hacking as such incidents have already occurred and the threshold for cyberattacks is much lower than it is for other types of crime that could target space assets. As to who the actual actors perpetrating these crimes would be, the authors argue that those most likely to engage in space piracy are those with the relevant specialized knowledge. Included in this list are ex-military personnel, ex-space agency personnel, corrupt insiders, personnel from commercial space companies, and criminal cartels.
Given the growth that the space sector is undergoing, and the growing number of attack vectors that are susceptible to criminal attack, the authors make a strong case that now is the best time to address the legal and jurisdictional challenges that will inevitably arise. They cite as examples incidents of current “cyber disasters,” many of which are a consequence of systems that were not designed to deter determined attacks by criminal elements. These examples, and examples of the more traditional maritime piracy that are making news today, are used to make the case that an appropriate legal regime, technical standards, and operational methodologies need to be established now. Designing solutions for these problems now will be particularly challenging given the international nature of operations taking place in space, and eventually on the Moon, and the many unknowns associated with the nature of what these operations may entail.
While I took exception to a statement in the book’s introduction that “space is rapidly transforming into a corporate free-for-all and playground for rogue states“, I do tend to agree with their position that “We feel comfortable predicting that piracy and other forms of mass criminality will arise in space as the sector grows more commercialized.” although I’m doubtful about the “mass” part of their statement.
In a meeting with the authors, perhaps a year ago, which focused on the commercial economic development of space, I confess to having been pretty dismissive of their space piracy concerns so I went into this book review with a biased perspective. Having said that, I am very glad that I took the time to read the book and can recommend it to anyone who has an interest in commercial space, national security, space policy, or space law. I found the book to be both very well written and very well researched. I was also pleased with the extensive citation of sources the authors provided – making it possible to review source articles of interest.
In the Terra Nullius (land that belongs to no one) of space, it will be quite interesting to see how the legal and jurisdictional environment evolves as the scope of human activities on this new frontier expands into areas that were once the domain of science fiction.