The Impact of Message Encryption on Teleoperation for Space Applications

In-orbit construction and maintenance of large-scale structures such as the International Space Station (ISS) have led to increasing interest in developing effective and efficient teleoperation systems. However, teleoperation requires communication of data between the operator and the operation site which may be subject to cyber-attacks. Cyber security measures such as encryption and hashing can prevent these attacks from being successful however, these security measures create additional overheads in communications that can impact on the operators ability to effectively control the operations at a distance. This paper investigates the time delay impact of encryption security controls and presents an analysis of the impact of different encryption algorithms on the communication channel. An awareness of the performance cost of encryption methods allows mission planners to consider the risk of security compromise and balance this against performance costs.