Back to DashboardIndustriesPhase 5 · Pilots & Migrationadvanced80 min

Aerospace PQC

Rad-hardened avionics, satellite link budgets, DO-326A certification, ITAR/EAR export controls, and multi-decade fleet interoperability across ground, airborne, and space segments.

Why this matters: A satellite or airframe fielded today will still be flying in the 2050s — its crypto has to survive a threat model that doesn't exist yet, under rad-hardening and export-control constraints no other industry faces.

Start here: Configure a mission profile in the Satellite Link Budget Calculator — LEO to HEO — and read the PQC bandwidth overhead, handshake latency and SEU-adjusted key refresh interval.

For your role

Researcher / Academic
The Satellite Link Budget Calculator across LEO, MEO, GEO and HEO and the Avionics Protocol Analyzer quantify PQC overhead on links no other sector runs; the Certification Impact Analyzer estimates DO-178C recertification cost.
IT Ops / DevOps
The Fleet Interoperability Matrix builds a mixed-generation fleet and shows which data links interoperate under PQC, and the Export Control Classifier places PQC-equipped products under ITAR, EAR and Wassenaar.
Practice in the Simulation

Aerospace is uniquely vulnerable to the quantum threat because its cryptographic systems must protect data across three segments with fundamentally different upgrade cadences — and because its equipment lifetimes span the entire PQC transition window.

Ground Segment

ATC centers, ground stations, airline ops. Standard /IPsec stack. Patched in weeks. PQC migration via standard IT change management.

Airborne Segment

Avionics with RSA-2048 / ECDSA P-256 for nav database auth and SATCOM. Crypto libraries certified under . Fleet-wide PQC rollout: 5–10 years.

Space Segment

Command/telemetry encrypted with AES + RSA/ECDH key exchange. Satellites cannot be physically accessed post-launch. Crypto must be provisioned pre-launch for 15–20 year GEO missions.

HNDL: Satellite Command & Telemetry

Adversaries can intercept encrypted satellite command uplinks and telemetry downlinks today. With a future , they could decrypt command sequences and forge authenticated commands — potentially taking control of communications satellites, GPS constellations, or military reconnaissance platforms. A GEO satellite launched in 2028 with RSA-2048 key exchange will still be operating in 2043, well past credible CRQC timelines.

Related Resources

IoT & Embedded Device PQC
PQC migration for embedded and space-rated processors
HSM & PQC
Radiation-hardened HSMs for ML-KEM and ML-DSA key storage
Code Signing
PQC firmware signing for flight-critical and satellite systems
Stateful Signatures
LMS and XMSS for long-lived aerospace mission signing keys

Products shown here are a representative selection — not an exhaustive list. For the full vendor landscape with PQC readiness status, visit the Tools & Products tab in this module or browse the Migrate catalog →

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Related modules

In the Industry Landscape

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Next step

Produce the artifact: Deployment Playbook

This module belongs to phase 5 (Pilots & Migration); Deployment Playbook produces a deliverable of that phase in the Command Center.

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