March 28, 2024

SpaceX appears to be taking steps to protect telemetry data after the leak

SpaceX appears to be taking steps to protect telemetry data after the leak

Usually SpaceX sends out its entire tests, but some amateur radio users wanted access to more data. SpaceX is known to use certain frequency bands to communicate with its spaceship, and some amateur radio astronomers have attempted to access telemetry data in these broadcasts. SpaceX attempted to encrypt video channels after intercepting and decoding multiple launches of the Falcon 9 Starlink to access video, which is usually only seen by employees.

Earlier this month, video calls were made between the SpaceX Mission Control Center and the second Falcon 9 stage They made Tours on social media. The leaked video showed views of the ground from the second stage missile and inside the liquid oxygen tank of the second stage missile. Radio Ham users learned about the frequencies SpaceX was using because the company needed to notify the Federal Communications Commission and the National Communications and Information Administration of the frequencies used to communicate with its missiles.

This condition meant that the frequencies were publicly available. After successfully capturing video and telemetry from the launch of the Falcon 9, amateurs decided to capture similar shots from the Starship SN11 test. Point the user antenna at the SN11 prototype. While it was able to capture the communication data between the test vehicle and the mission controllers, unlike the previous point in time, they were unable to decode the information.

While the communication between SpaceX and the Falcon 9 mission was previously unencrypted, SpaceX encrypted data between consoles and the spaceship. SpaceX will likely always encrypt data for the Starship test flights and will not bother encrypting data for Falcon 9 missions.

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Amateur radio users will definitely try to capture data from future Falcon 9 missions, and if that is encrypted now, SpaceX has taken steps to protect its data. Of course, leaked data can harm SpaceX, and it goes without saying that all information must be encrypted.