Ground and Communications Systems Directorate
Our Mission
The Ground and Communication Systems Directorate secures the terrestrial, space-link, and network infrastructures that enable command and control (C2), and mission data exchange. It conducts applied research in network defense, signal assurance, and resilient architectures to protect mission-critical systems from cyber and electronic threats. Guided by risk management-based IT governance and NIST-aligned cybersecurity standards, we partner with government, industry, and academia to advance and transition innovative technologies that ensure trusted, end-to-end connectivity across the terrestrial and space enterprises.
Focus Areas:
- Resilient communications
- Ground station hardening
- Cloud / virtual ground stations
- Control system hardening
- End-to-end secure communications
- Defense in Depth strategy development and execution
- Key management
- Anti-jamming / spoofing
- Post-quantum encryption