Government-led innovation ecosystem is derisking space cybersecurity for private investors

If it takes a village to raise a child, the story of Singaporean deeptech startup SpeQtral is the progeny of a specialised innovation ecosystem with coordinated public and private support. 

Started as a bold lab concept in a local university, the space-based quantum communications startup is turning into a global contender in space cybersecurity. 

Its humble origins were nurtured by a "village" of Singapore public agencies (like the space office, cybersecurity agency, research centre of excellence, and the innovation agency) that provided the critical scaffolding for its growth – be it policy, funding, networks, or the technical expertise.  

Nine years since SpeQtral ventured into a niche area like space cybersecurity, space has now become a national priority and securing it is key for governments. 

For an emerging yet critical frontier for national resilience, SGInnovate’s Deputy Director of Strategic Projects Desiree Tung says to GovInsider that there is an imperative for governments to lead investments in this sector to instill market confidence and catalyse the sector. 

Tung was speaking on the sidelines of the CYSAT Asia, the inaugural event in Asia dedicated to cybersecurity of space infrastructures on February 5. It was organised by SGInnovate and European cybersecurity company CYSEC. 

Delivering the keynote at the event, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA)’s Chief Executive David Koh highlighted that the current space ecosystem today relied on technologies and geopolitical assumptions of “a very different era”, when cybersecurity was not a design requirement.  

But the current vulnerabilities are not just limited to orbiting satellites, but across the entire space value chain from ground stations, control systems, management networks, and supply chains. 

Government as a pioneer investor 

SGInnovate is a private organisation fully-owned by the Singapore government, serving as an entity to build deeptech innovation in the country.  

“We look at investing in early-stage technology - from pre-seed to Series A – and areas where perhaps they are not ready for the private sector yet,” Tung explains. 

Quantum tech is an example. “We were one of the early investors of quantum startups about three to four years back,” she says. 

As a result of these early investments, she believes that they have catalysed additional investments and signalled to the private sector to invest in the quantum sector. 

Market intelligence firm Quantum Insider also reported that a driver of the sector is the continued government funding, especially through the national quantum strategies, to derisk early adoption and spur private investments in the sector. 

Tung highlights that the same strategy is now required for space cybersecurity. 

As the Asia-Pacific region awakens to the risks in space, she emphasises the importance of building security in its infrastructure from day one. 

Doing so avoids the high costs of “last minute fixes," ensuring that governments can ensure their sovereignty through secure-by-design infrastructure than reactive defence. 

In the panel “Strategic Partnerships & International Investment in Space Cybersecurity”, Innovaud (economic promotion agency of Vaud, Switzerland)’s Managing Director Patrick Barbey, and SGInnovate’s Head of Investments Tong Hsien-Hui also highlighted a gap in private investments for a startup category combining both space and cybersecurity.  

“In many of these cases, they are not pure venture capitalist (VC) investments. It’s a combination of contracts by the European Space Agency (ESA), public organisations and other sources. 

Government as a convener in an interconnected space 

Tung highlights that building a startup can be a solitary path, which is why SGInnovate believes in building the “village,” in this case an ecosystem, around the startups.

By bringing together the right players like researchers, corporates and other investors, SGInnovate is creating a collaborative platform for the startups to build their capabilities and connections to lead in an emerging tech space, she says.  

In the panel, SGInnovate’s Tong expanded further that the current solutions in the space cybersecurity sector remain “narrow,” often focused on specific parts of the infrastructure. 

To "level up” these solutions, he argued for more global collaboration between governments and companies.  

His call for a systemic approach to space cybersecurity aligned with CSA’s David Koh, as he stressed the importance of tackling space cybersecurity not by components, but “as a network of interconnected systems” spanning different organisations, developers and end users. 

In a separate address, UK Royal Marines’ Deputy Director for Cyber and Electromagnetic Effects and Special Operations’ Brigadier Richard Alston noted that in the military sector, it is also rethinking its relationship with the private sector to leverage the latter’s expertise. 

“That's a very different and normal approach. Rather than come up with a series of requirements and ask industry to go and address those requirements, we're bringing industry in to define and design, not just targeting the requirements,” he said. 

As for next steps for the Singapore public sector, SGInnovate’s Tong reflected that while different public agencies support the space cybersecurity support, there remains a lack of coordinated effort.

He hoped that the setting up of the National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) in coming April would consolidate these efforts and instill confidence in more private investors to get involved in the space cybersecurity sector.