Zero-trust security startup Xage Security Inc. today announced that it has received a $17 million contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space System Command to offer its zero-trust access control and data protection across SSC’s current and next-generation ground and space architectures.

The contract was awarded to Xage Security Gov, a fully owned subsidiary of Xage established to support federal government clients. Xage Gov is dedicated to addressing the cyber protection needs of critical missions, operations and assets and can securely handle classified and unclassified projects.

Under the USSF contract, Xage Gov will use the Xage Fabric Platform, the company’s platform for zero-trust access management and data security, to provide an identity-based zero-trust cybersecurity mesh with distributed enforcement of services at the leading edge for Department of Defense systems.

The mission under the contract has three priority initiatives that leverage Xage Fabric. The first is the cyber-hardening of current terrestrial-based systems, including ground stations, modems and operational technology assets, using zero-trust principles. Xage Fabric supports modern and legacy systems, allowing for the dynamic protection of systems and assets within the operational environment.

The second mission is to deploy zero-trust capabilities across next-generation ground and space systems, including commercial and defense interactions in Hybrid Satellite Architectures. Zero-trust operations aim to enable commercial and defense cooperation in pursuit of mission objectives.

The Xage Fabric cybersecurity mesh provides central policy administration, automated real-time orchestration and distributed policy decision and enforcement for cybersecurity services across system architectures. The platform’s vendor- and network-agnostic approach is said to accelerate the adoption of consistent zero-trust capabilities and ensure secure interactions between commercial and DOD assets.

The final mission is the deployment of Xage zero trust for secure data exchange, with Xage Fabric guaranteeing data integrity, confidentiality and authenticity from data source or network edge to data consumer. This includes secure data exchange across multilayered networks, distributed data integrity and authenticity checks from edge network collection points to commercial cloud environments.

“Space is the final frontier of cybersecurity and a key arm of critical infrastructure that needs protection,” Xage Chief Executive Geoffrey Mattson said. “For complex distributed environments, of which space is a demanding example, we’re answering the pressing need for local continuous operation, integrity of data and identity protection for a mix of legacy and modern systems.”

Xage is a venture capital-backed startup, having raised $60 million, according to Tracnx, including a round of $30 million in 2022. Investors in the company include Piva Capital LLC, Momenta Ventures LP, Valor Equity Partners LP and OurCrowd Equity Ltd.

Image: U.S. Space Force