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SPARTA

Space Attack Research and Tactic Analysis — The Aerospace Corporation

Also known as: SPARTA matrix, Space Attack Research and Tactic Analysis, Aerospace SPARTA

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Current version
SPARTA v4.0.1
Published 24 August 2026. source
Status
In force
Next deadline
None announced
Who must comply
Developers, owners and operators of spacecraft and space systems, defensive cyber operators, threat intelligence teams and red teams working on the space segment. source
How it is assessed
Programmes use SPARTA themselves, for example in threat-informed design, tabletop exercises and the Space System Cybersecurity Questionnaire. source
Authority
Created and maintained by The Aerospace Corporation, which updates the matrix with known or theoretical tactics, techniques and procedures and takes community contributions. source
Enforced by
SPARTA is provided "as is" under a royalty-free licence, with trademark terms for its logo. source
Last change

The ATT&CK-shaped matrix for spacecraft: tactics, techniques and countermeasures for space vehicles and their ground segment, published by The Aerospace Corporation. Countermeasures are cross-referenced to NIST SP 800-53, the reference that space-system security work is mapped to.

Recent changes

  1. Medium
    SPARTA releases v4.0.1

    SPARTA has published version 4.0.1 on 24 August 2026. As this is a versioned update to a specialist framework document, only the version number and publication …

    New version Effective 2026-08-24 Action required

  2. Medium
    SPARTA v4.0 published

    SPARTA has released version 4.0 of its aerospace supplier quality standard. The update introduces changes to supplier quality management and compliance requirements for aerospace organizations. Organizations …

    New version Effective 2026-08-06 Action required

That is the last 90 days. Sign in to read further back.

Key dates

No upcoming dates
  1. SPARTA v4.0.1 released
  2. SPARTA v4.0 released, adding ground system defense and new Impact techniques
  3. SPARTA v3.2 released with countermeasure tiers and NIST CSF 2.0 mappings

Amendments

  1. SPARTA v4.0.1 ErrataCurrent text

    Minor website fixes and fixed STIX bundles; countermeasure CM0003 (TEMPEST / EMSEC) modified. source

  2. SPARTA v4.0 Major version

    Added ground system defense, updated and expanded countermeasures and updated the Impact techniques, with new techniques IMP-0007 to IMP-0014. source

    More
    • New Impact techniques include Native Functionality Abuse, State or Mode Manipulation, Configuration Manipulation and Resource Exhaustion or Contention.
    • Released with a paper on conducting cyber tabletop exercises for space systems using SPARTA.
  3. SPARTA v3.2 Revision

    Added tiers to countermeasures, BSI TR-03184 mappings for TTPs and countermeasures, NIST CSF 2.0 mappings to countermeasures and revamped SPARTA requirements and technique descriptions. source

    More
    • Added space segment guidance for NIST controls and an updated User Guide.
  4. SPARTA v3.1 Revision

    Added MITRE EMB3D mappings for TTPs and countermeasures, space segment guidance for controls, a SPARTA User Guide and TTP Recommended Practices. source

  5. SPARTA v3.0 Major version

    Created Indicators of Behavior for SPARTA TTPs, added CWE classes to TTPs and created the Space System Cybersecurity Questionnaire. source

    More
    • Added NIST SP 800-160 Vol 1 and 2 mappings to the spacecraft decomposition.
Show 2 older amendments
  1. SPARTA v2.0 Major version

    Updated requirements for all countermeasures, controls and spacecraft threats and added the Spacecraft Decomposition page, its mapper tool and the Space Segment Cybersecurity Profile. source

    More
    • Website terminology was aligned with A Lexicon for Outer Space Security.
  2. SPARTA v1.0 Major version

    First version listed in the SPARTA Versions table. source

Who it applies to

A royalty-free, unclassified matrix of attacks and countermeasures for anyone building, operating or defending spacecraft.

What it is
The first publicly available cybersecurity threat identification and response matrix dedicated to spacecraft: tactics, techniques, sub-techniques and procedures, with countermeasures. source
Who uses it
Space system developers, defensive cyber operators, threat intelligence teams, assessors and red teamers, and education and research. source
Cross-references
SPARTA is cross-referenced to NIST SP 800-53 revision 5, MITRE ATT&CK where applicable and the spacecraft cyber protections in TOR 2021-01333 REV A. source
Licence
The Aerospace Corporation grants a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use SPARTA for research, development and commercial purposes, provided copies keep its copyright notice and licence. source
Versioning
The catalogue uses a majorUpdate.minorUpdate.textFixes.websiteFixes version scheme. source

How compliance is assessed

Programmes use SPARTA themselves, for example in threat-informed design, tabletop exercises and the Space System Cybersecurity Questionnaire.

Assessments
SPARTA gives security engineers and red teamers a framework for designing attack chains against the space segment in assessments and table-top exercises. source
Questionnaire
SPARTA v3.0 created the Space System Cybersecurity Questionnaire. source
Coverage limits
The Aerospace Corporation does not claim SPARTA enumerates every possible technique; covering whole categories of techniques will not guarantee full defensive coverage. source

Enforcement and penalties

SPARTA is provided "as is" under a royalty-free licence, with trademark terms for its logo.

Provided as is
All documents and information are provided on an "as is" basis, and The Aerospace Corporation disclaims all warranties. source
Trademark
SPARTA has a trademarked logo; users may include it in materials provided the registered trademark symbol remains visible. source

Documents

  1. Guidance SPARTA Versions
  2. Guidance SPARTA current update notes
  3. FAQ SPARTA FAQ
  4. Guidance SPARTA NIST references
  5. Guidance SPARTA Terms of Service

Verified against official sources on 18 October 2026. We monitor the official sources for this framework. Watching since 20 September 2026. Subscribe to SPARTA (RSS)