Lee Chan-kyu(Sophomore, School of Mechanical Engineering) received the Grand Prize in the National Strategy field at the '2025 Cyber 가상 스포츠토토 Paper Competition,' sponsored by the National Intelligence Service(NIS) and hosted by the Korea Association of Cyber 가상 스포츠토토.

This competition, held annually since 2017, is the most prestigious academic conference on cyber 가상 스포츠토토 in South Korea. The fact that a sophomore science and engineering student won the Grand Prize as a sole author without a supervising professor is an exceptional achievement. Lee's paper, A New Space Threat Through Cyber-Intrusion Orbital Blockade(CIOB), was highly evaluated for presenting a new pattern of future 가상 스포츠토토 threats through a multidisciplinary study combining cyber 가상 스포츠토토, space 가상 스포츠토토, and space engineering.

"I didn't expect to win the Grand Prize, and I'm very delighted that my idea and a year of research have been recognized," Lee said, adding, "I will steadily continue follow-up research from this achievement."

In this research, 가상 스포츠토토 proposed the new space threat concept: 'Cyber-Intrusion Orbital Blockade (CIOB)'. Conventional attacks on satellites have focused on physical destruction via missiles or nuclear explosions, or paralyzing services and communication through cyberattacks.

CIOB works by disrupting the data and decision-making loop of the Collision Avoidance Maneuver(CAM) system to induce collisions between satellites/space objects or create space debris. Lee explained, "The core idea is that a specific orbit can be strategically blockaded by turning it into a danger zone solely through data manipulation and error accumulation."

CAM is a system that detects the close proximity of satellites and space objects and decides whether to maneuver to avoid a collision. CIOB disrupts this by causing systems to either fail to evade in situations that require evasion, or, conversely, execute incorrect evasive maneuvers, leading to accumulated misjudgments. Lee explained, "Ultimately, this can deny access to a specific orbit, shorten a satellite's lifespan, increase operating costs, and crucially, lead to collisions and debris generation." He added, "Such a threat poses a new problem for national security because it leaves almost no trace of attack, making both detection and attribution difficult."

Regarding the motivation for the research, Lee said, "In the second semester of my freshman year, while preparing for the Air Force Academy's Future Aerospace Academic Conference, I became interested in the military utilization potential of space debris." Although he competed with a different topic and did not win at the time, that experience helped him understand the overall research methodology and paper writing process, leading him to independently continue the research for the following year.

Explaining his integrated research method, he said, "Initially, I considered attack concepts using space debris, but the risk and detectability were high. To solve this, I introduced cyber intervention to secure confidentiality and persistence, newly proposing the CIOB concept." Since childhood, Lee has been deeply interested in defense science, security, and space engineering, consistently recording various ideas. He explained, in this research process, he "integrated the technical and strategic elements of the three fields, considering both technical feasibility and strategic implications."

As the competition is hosted by the National Intelligence Service and the Korea Cyber Security Association, a security perspective is incorporated into the research. Lee stated, "I determined that the CIOB could pose a threat to advanced nations and allies, including South Korea, which have a high dependence on space activities." He added, "I thought that it was necessary to quickly alert the NIS and the academic community to the related risks, so I adjusted the scope of the research to focus on 'presenting the risk and potential'." He emphasized, "The current research is at the conceptual proposal stage, and I am preparing for follow-up studies."

Lee pointed out that the risk of CIOB could increase in the upcoming Low Earth Orbit(LEO) satellite era. He said, "As tens of thousands of LEO satellites are currently in operation, if the Space Traffic Management(STM) system or ground control stations are subjected to a cyberattack, it may be possible to artificially degrade the orbit used by specific reconnaissance or military satellites." This could lead to threats such as chaos in space traffic management, loss of operational capability for reconnaissance and military satellites, and physical attacks induced by collision. Highlighting such risks, he emphasized, "This underscores the need to strengthen cyber security across the STM system and space systems as a whole."

The process of independent research without a supervising professor was challenging. Lee confessed, "I struggled with the construction of the logical framework and data interpretation early on." He actively sought expert opinions at on- and off-campus conferences and received advice from various experts, including Colonel Yang Hwang-seok, Commander of Hanyang University ROTC, and PhDs studying space security, enhancing the completeness of his research. Lee recalled, "When I showed the draft to a space security researcher at a government research institute, I was told it was 'novel and persuasive,' which gave me great confidence."

When asked about his future plans, he replied, "This paper is just the beginning. I plan to continue with follow-up studies, including simulation and demonstration research and the systematization of countermeasures."

He is currently majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Political Science and Diplomacy. He aims to acquire capabilities that encompass both technology and security, with the goal of growing into a researcher at institutions such as the Agency for Defense Development(ADD), the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses(KIDA), or the Institute for National Security Strategy(INSS). Lee concluded with his aspiration: "I want to grow into a researcher who bridges engineering and security, contributing to the security of the Republic of Korea."