A physics-informed machine learning for detecting suspicious satellite maneuvers (orbital manipulation)

Abstract

Satellite systems have become prime targets for cyberthreats given their critical role in global infrastructure and general lack of security. Among these, orbital manipulation, a form of satellite hijacking, is a particularly severe threat that can disrupt essential operations and impact national security. To address these concerns, this research proposes an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based anomaly detection system that utilizes Machine Learning (ML) models to analyze telemetry data for possible orbital manipulations with a multi-gate physics architecture grounded in orbital mechanics, to verify that detected anomalies are kinematically inconsistent and are therefore genuine integrity failures. This research demonstrates that temporal-based models like LSTM are essential for this domain, achieving high recall rates which are then validated by the physics component. While the framework includes multiple physical constraints, this study specifically validates the energy-based Vis-Viva gate, with the Tsiolkovsky and Angular Momentum gates established as architectural designs for future verification. This study concludes that successful AI deployment in orbital cybersecurity requires a comprehensive approach that integrates domain-specific context and physics-informed validation beyond traditional performance metrics