---
title: "The Air Force Is Inviting Hackers to Breach a Satellite"
description: "After hackers revealed flaws in the F-15's cybersecurity, the Air Force plans to invite white hat hackers to probe an active satellite for vulnerabilities."
date: "2019-09-17"
modified: "2019-09-17"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/air-force-invite-hackers-breach-satellite"
categories:
  - "Military"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "cybersecurity"
  - "hackers"
  - "military technology"
  - "the digest"
---

# The Air Force Is Inviting Hackers to Breach a Satellite

![After hackers revealed flaws in the F-15's cybersecurity, the Air Force plans to invite white hat hackers to probe an active satellite for vulnerabilities.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/air-force-invite-hackers-breach-satellite.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Lockheed Martin\</em\>*

## Welcome!

The Air Force will soon issue an unusual [invitation to white-hat hackers](<https://futurism.com/defense-department-bug-bounty-program>): infiltrate and take control of a military satellite orbiting the Earth.

The news comes one month after the Air Force invited hackers — under close supervision — to ransack the F-15 fighter jet's flimsily-secured software for vulnerabilities, *[Wired ](<https://www.wired.com/story/air-force-defcon-satellite-hacking/>)*[reports](<https://www.wired.com/story/air-force-defcon-satellite-hacking/>). The Air Force was reportedly so pleased with the results of that hack that it's continuing the program next year, ending a long tradition of closing itself off from outside experts to improve its cybersecurity.

## Higher Stakes

Soon, the Air Force will request submissions from hackers who think they can handle its next challenge: taking over an active satellite's Earth-facing camera.

Hackers can either target the satellite itself or its terrestrial control station, Will Roper, Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition, technology, and logistics, told *Wired*.

"We will have opportunities for contestants to do both," he said. "But what they’re going to do is try to take over the satellite by any means they find."

## Everybody Wins

During the F-15 hack, most of the problem areas reportedly came from specific components built by smaller contractors, *Wired* reports, which don't have the resources to secure their products as well as bigger companies like Lockheed Martin might.

By collaborating with hackers who excel at finding security flaws, Roper told *Wired* that he hopes the entire [military cybersecurity](<https://futurism.com/navy-struggling-onslaught-hackers>) supply chain can be patched up.

**READ MORE:** [The Air Force Will Let Hackers Try to Hijack an Orbiting Satellite](<https://www.wired.com/story/air-force-defcon-satellite-hacking/>) \[*Wired*\]

**More on cybersecurity:** *[Hackers Are Stealing Sensitive Documents From The U.S. Military And Selling Them](<https://futurism.com/the-digest-hackers-are-stealing-sensitive-documents-from-the-u-s-military-and-selling-them>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)