All techniques
REC-0004
ST0001Reconnaissance

Gather Launch Information

Description

Adversaries collect structured launch intelligence to forecast when and how mission assets will transition through their most time-compressed, change-prone phase. Useful elements include the launch date/time windows, launch site and range operator, participating organizations (launch provider, integrator, range safety, telemetry networks), vehicle family and configuration, fairing type, and upper-stage restart profiles. This picture enables realistic social-engineering pretexts, supply-chain targeting of contractors, and identification of auxiliary systems (range instrumentation, TLM/FTS links) that may be less hardened than the spacecraft itself. Knowledge of ascent comms (bands, beacons, ground stations), early-orbit operations (LEOP) procedures, and handovers to mission control further informs when authentication, staffing, or telemetry margins may be tight.

Mappings

EU regulation articles

  • eu-space-actArt. 76(4)
    addresses
    moderate
    direct

    76(4)(c)(i) covers transport, commissioning, launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) as part of the lifecycle the operator must address with risk-management measures — limiting the leakage of launch information is part of that lifecycle protection.

  • eu-space-actArt. 80(3)
    addresses
    moderate
    direct

    Operator-controlled launch artifacts (range telemetry configurations, integrator touchpoints, internal launch schedules beyond public manifest) are within 80(3)'s categorization scope.

ENISA controls

  • Supplier security management covers launch providers, integrators, range operators, and telemetry network providers whose pre-launch staff REC-0004 profiles.

  • Ongoing awareness and training for launch-ecosystem personnel is relevant to resisting the social-engineering pretexts REC-0004 enables, but training is a governance control and does not actively defend against information gathering.

Cross-reference controls

SPARTA countermeasures

Cite as SafeMode Space, REC-0004 (SPARTA v3.2).

Built 2026-07-25 from 216 techniques, 334 regulation articles, 125 ENISA controls, 2,610 framework controls, and 90 countermeasures.