WASHINGTON — The cybersecurity firm SpiderOak has signed an agreement with the U.S. Space Development Agency to research the use of the company’s software to protect ground systems that control military satellites.

SpiderOak, a software company focused on satellite cybersecurity, said Oct. 17 the agreement is a so-called Other Transaction Authority contract. It allows the Space Development Agency (SDA) to research the integration of the company’s OrbitSecure software suite into a military ground system currently in development called the Rapid Resilient Command and Control program.

SDA, an agency under the U.S. Space Force, is building a large constellation of communications and missile-tracking satellites in low Earth orbit.

The Rapid Resilient Command and Control program, or R2C2 — a new initiative led by the Space Force’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office — is an effort to develop a modern software-based ground control system for military satellites.

SpiderOak’s technology is known as zero-trust cybersecurity, where all data is encrypted and the encryption keys are only known to the client.

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