Satellite Network Security: Physical-Layer Techniques, Challenges and Future Directions

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit your valuable works to this Special Issue entitled “Satellite Network Security: Physical-Layer Techniques, Challenges and Future Directions”. Driven by the rapid development of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, satellite-terrestrial integrated networks and 6G non-terrestrial networking technologies, modern satellite networks have evolved into large-scale, dynamic and heterogeneous integrated systems, greatly expanding global seamless communication coverage and supporting diverse emerging wireless service scenarios. Nevertheless, the inherent characteristics of satellite communication systems, including wireless broadcast propagation mode, ultra-long transmission distance and highly dynamic time-varying channels, bring unique physical-layer vulnerabilities. These inherent defects make satellite networks face severe security risks such as eavesdropping, jamming and malicious interference. Conventional upper-layer security encryption methods can no longer fully cope with the complex and variable security threats in satellite communication scenarios. In this context, satellite-specific physical-layer security, covert communication and anti-jamming technologies have become core research hotspots to guarantee the confidentiality, robustness and reliability of satellite communications, which is of great theoretical significance and practical engineering value for promoting the secure and stable development of next-generation non-terrestrial networks.

This Special Issue aims to comprehensively collect and display the latest research advances in physical-layer security theories, key technologies and system implementations for satellite networks, forming a systematic and in-depth academic collection in this field. It focuses on addressing the technical bottlenecks and practical challenges of physical-layer security mechanisms tailored to satellite communication characteristics, filling the gap of targeted research on satellite-specific physical-layer security in existing studies (most existing literatures focus on generic satellite security research and lack in-depth exploration of physical-layer scenario characteristics). The research theme of this Special Issue closely fits the core scope of mainstream communication, signal processing and aerospace engineering journals, covering interdisciplinary research integrating information theory security, wireless signal processing and next-generation satellite network technologies, with a moderate research breadth and depth, neither overly generalized nor overly narrow.

Specifically, this Special Issue has three core research objectives. First, it intends to systematically summarize the latest progress of satellite communication physical-layer security and anti-jamming technologies, including secure beamforming, artificial noise design, covert transmission optimization, spread-spectrum anti-jamming and adaptive security communication strategies. Second, it focuses on analyzing the practical challenges and technical limitations of physical-layer security technologies in real satellite scenarios, such as imperfect channel state information, satellite network resource constraints, scalability problems of mega-constellations, and the collaborative optimization relationship between physical-layer security and traditional cryptographic security mechanisms. Third, it strives to prospect future research directions of satellite network security, including AI-assisted secure transmission, cross-layer security collaborative design, and security-oriented architecture optimization for next-generation non-terrestrial networks.

This Special Issue plans to collect at least 10 high-quality articles. Once the target number is achieved, the included papers will be compiled and printed in book form, which can provide a comprehensive and timely academic reference for researchers and engineering practitioners engaged in secure satellite communication and non-terrestrial network research, and further enrich the research system of satellite network security in related academic fields. In this Special Issue, original research articles and review articles are both welcome.

Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

• Theoretical foundations of physical-layer security for LEO, MEO and GEO satellite communication systems
• Advanced signal processing techniques for satellite secure and covert transmission - Secure waveform design, beamforming optimization and artificial noise design for satellite scenarios
• Spread-spectrum communication and adaptive anti-jamming technologies for satellite networks
• Joint optimization strategies of communication performance and physical-layer security for satellite systems
• Physical-layer security optimization under imperfect channel state information and resource constraints
• Scalable security technologies for large-scale satellite mega-constellations
• Collaborative mechanism research of physical-layer security and cryptographic encryption technologies
• AI/ML-assisted intelligent secure transmission and anti-interference methods for satellite networks
• Cross-layer security design and security-aware architecture for next-generation satellite-terrestrial integrated networks
• Practical system implementation and performance verification of satellite physical-layer security technologies

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Xiaqing Miao
Dr. Rui Zhang
Dr. Sheng Ke
Dr. Lu Tian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• satellite network security
• physical-layer security
• covert communication
• anti-jamming
• secure beamforming
• resilient satellite communications
• secure signal processing