An AI cyberattack could trigger a satellite apocalypse in the next 2 years. Are we prepared?

AI systems could soon be able to hijack satellites in orbit and cause them to collide with other spacecraft, potentially triggering a dangerous cascade of smash-ups that could render the environment around Earth unsafe for years, according to experts.

Cyber security researchers are already using AI to identify so-called zero-day vulnerabilities — yet undiscovered security holes in code — to alert operators and help them patch the problems before hackers could exploit them. But attackers, too, can take advantage of those advanced systems to find those holes more quickly.

Speaking exclusively to Space. Com, researchers at the CR14 cybersecurity center in Estonia said that advances in AI could make it possible for an AI-led attack to wreak havoc in orbit in as little as two years. The emergence of so-called agentic AI — autonomous systems powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, which can independently plan action and execute tasks to achieve set goals — is especially worrying, Kristjan Keskküla, CR14 Head of Space Cyber Range, told Space.