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SpaceX engineers also reveal machine learning is not used on the Dragon and Falcon spacecraft. //
Each of SpaceX's monthly launches of 60 internet-beaming Starlink satellites carries 4,000 stripped-back Linux computers, SpaceX software engineers have revealed.
SpaceX engineers disclosed the detail in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session over the weekend. //
It also means that it's now sent 32,000 Linux computers to space for the existing constellation.
"The constellation has more than 30,000 Linux nodes (and more than 6,000 microcontrollers) in space right now," wrote Matt Monson, SpaceX's director of Starlink software.
"And because we share a lot of our Linux platform infrastructure with Falcon and Dragon, they get the benefit of our more than 180 vehicle-years of on-orbit test time." //
We designed the system to use end-to-end encryption for our users' data, to make breaking into a satellite or gateway less useful to an attacker who wants to intercept communications," wrote Moran.
"Every piece of hardware in our system (satellites, gateways, user terminals) is designed to only run software signed by us, so that even if an attacker breaks in, they won't be able to gain a permanent foothold.
"And then we harden the insides of the system (including services in our data centers) to make it harder for an exploited vulnerability in one area to be leveraged somewhere else. We're continuing to work hard to ensure our overall system is properly hardened, and still have a lot of work ahead of us (we're hiring), but it's something we take very seriously."