HackSat.
A satellite ground station in software and silicon. Track AgniSat over a 433 MHz LoRa link, watch its attitude and payload telemetry, then attack the ground segment that keeps it connected.
- AgniSat target spacecraft
- 433 MHz LoRa downlink
- ESP32 + Flask ground station
You can’t learn space security on a spacecraft you don’t have.
Ground-segment security is hard to study because the ground segment is hard to get. Real telemetry, RF links and attitude-control systems sit behind mission operators and hardware nobody hands to a class.
HackSat is a working ground station for a research spacecraft, AgniSat. Real LoRa telemetry, a real ADCS dashboard, and a real attack surface, on hardware you can build and software you can break.
Acquire the satellite, then take it down.
This is HackSat’s real connection state machine and its Modbus attack. Acquire AgniSat, watch telemetry flow, then sever the link with coil0 = 0 and feel how reconnection stays blocked until you recover.
No connection to the satellite
operator@hacksat:~$ link --status
Press Connect to acquire AgniSat…Ground-segment attacks, safely.
The operations and attacks of a real ground station, with a research spacecraft that can’t be lost.
- 01
Acquire the link
Walk the ground station through the real connection state machine: LOST → ACQUIRING → TRACKING → LOCKED, and watch AgniSat’s telemetry start to flow.
- 02
Run a Modbus attack
Writing coil0 = 0 over Modbus severs the link and blocks automatic reconnection, a realistic denial-of-service against the ground segment’s control plane.
- 03
Recover under fire
Reconnection stays blocked until an operator explicitly issues a recover command, so you practise regaining control while the attack is still active.
- 04
Spoof telecommands
Telemetry is the master source; telecommands only set operator intent. Push a target attitude or ADCS mode and watch it hold for five seconds before live telemetry reasserts itself.
Full housekeeping, ADCS and payload telemetry.
Every 2 seconds, CRC16-checked, straight from the AgniSat sensor stack into the dashboard.
- HousekeepingTemperature, humidity, mission uptime, comms status
- ADCSAccel X/Y/Z, gyro X/Y/Z, roll, pitch, relative yaw, mode
- PayloadRadiation measurements, payload status, science data
- NavigationAltitude, speed, orbit data (NEO-6M GPS)
- AntennaAzimuth, elevation, tracking status
- SAFEMinimal attitude control, safe hold
- DETUMBLEReduces spacecraft rotation rates
- NOMINALNormal ops with full attitude control
- PAYLOAD OPSOptimised for scientific data collection
Aerospace security you can actually touch.
For aerospace and OT security researchers, ground-station and CubeSat teams, CTF builders, and educators running space and industrial-comms modules.
A whole ground segment on your desk
Telemetry acquisition, LoRa link, antenna tracking and an ADCS dashboard, running as one Flask app you can stand up and attack in minutes.
Attack the control plane
A built-in Modbus attack severs the satellite link and blocks reconnection, so you can practise denial-of-service and recovery against the ground station itself.
Real embedded hardware path
ESP32, 433 MHz LoRa, MPU6050 and a NEO-6M GPS. The firmware is included, so the platform bridges dashboard research and real RF and sensor work.
Telemetry is the source of truth
Telecommands set operator intent for five seconds, then live telemetry reasserts itself, teaching how real spacecraft ops separate intent from state.
Runs anywhere
Cross-platform on Linux, Windows and macOS, so a classroom or CTF can run it whatever people bring to the room.
Built for research, honest about it
Not a flight-qualified system, and it says so. A safe teaching and experimentation range for aerospace and industrial comms security.
Stand up the ground station.
Python and Flask, cross-platform. The dashboard runs even without the ESP32 hardware; add the radio when you want the real downlink.
- 01
git clone https://github.com/Dellon-Technology-Pvt-Ltd/HackSat.git - 02
python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate - 03
pip install -r requirements.txt - 04
sudo python3 app_cross_platform.py
- Linux
- Windows 10 / 11
- macOS 10.15+
A research platform, not a flight system.
HackSat v1.0 is for research, experimentation and teaching, and does not represent a flight-qualified spacecraft. New research scenarios land progressively, and ideas are welcome.
Securing something that actually flies?
The team behind HackSat researches RF, embedded and ground-segment security. If you build satellites, ground stations or the links between them, let’s talk.