Booz Allen’s Kevin Coggins: Digital Twins Could Help Strengthen Cybersecurity of Space Assets

Kevin Coggins, vice president for positioning, navigation and timing at Booz Allen Hamilton, wrote in an opinion piece published Monday on C4ISRNET that military services and other organizations looking to protect satellites and other in-orbit space systems from evolving cyber threats should adopt the “digital twin” approach. 

“Digital twins offer an innovative approach that can streamline and strengthen the testing and design process of our space assets,” Coggins wrote. 

“They can also provide insights on as-built systems and enable the buydown of risks across the space system life cycle, enabling affordability across the entire system life cycle,” he added.

Coggins called on acquisition professionals, operators and developers of satellites and other space systems to use digital twins and other model-based system engineering methods to come up with system requirements and analyze design trades and develop test scenarios for requirements clarification and reference systems.

He noted that digital twins could also help organizations simulate threats without risk to critical infrastructure and evaluate the impact of operational scenarios or new threats on the design of an on-orbit space system.

Coggins will serve as a moderator of a panel discussion during the Potomac Officers Club’s Ensuring PNT Superiority on the Future Battlefield event on Thursday, Nov. 5.

Click here to register for the virtual event, which will feature William Nelson, director of Assured PNT Cross Functional Team within the U.S. Army, as the keynote speaker.