At MITRE, There’s Space for Implementing More National Security
At MITRE, There’s Space for Implementing More National Security
Publish Date: 2026-06-18 08:00:00
Source Domain: www.mitre.org
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
Robert Sumner looks up and sees big challenges, and huge opportunities. As a 2026 Shawn Brimley Next Generation National Security Fellow with the Center for a New American Security, he’s thinking critically about the evolving domain of space-system cybersecurity—how emerging technologies and national security policy come together in this new realm.“As space systems become more complex, interconnected, and cyber-dependent, mission success requires a more integrated approach to how they’re designed, integrated, developed, and sustained,” he says.By day at MITRE, Sumner addresses space-based capability issues as a principal applied cybersecurity engineer in our National Space Program Department. He says working for MITRE provides unmatched “freedom to pursue hard problems freely, for the betterment of national interests.” He brings to MITRE a background rich in education, experience, and service to the country, all of which inform his contributions to security in this final frontier.An All-Encompassing FieldAs leader for Project 60 under the System and Engineering Directorate at MITRE’s National Space Program, Sumner says he’s involved “in everything from digital engineering and space systems, to space system cybersecurity, to modeling and simulation.” Project 60 addresses the need for threat-informed space systems engineering and architecture support across national space missions.In addition, Sumner steers Project STEEL TOWN, a MITRE National Space Program/Space Enterprise Mission. It’s a division-led initiative that fills a critical gap across the Department of War and the Intelligence Community by providing a uniform, repeatable framework for conducting end-to-end cyber threat enumeration specific to space systems.Using a novel methodology for the end-to-end life cycle of space systems, STEEL TOWN advances the cyberthreat intelligence landscape applied against commercial and U.S. government space interests. Sumner says it’s the first approach of its kind—with the capability of “looking at the entire life cycle as opposed to individual snapshots,” he explains.And with what Sumner calls the “phenomenal” MITRE ecosystems of ATT&CK® and D3FEND™ in place, the team doesn’t have to start from scratch in these efforts.“We don’t need to build something new,” he says. “My role is helping to leverage what we have in a new way and bringing concepts to fruition.”
