GAO: NASA Faces 'Inconsistent' Cybersecurity Across Spacecraft

**Executive summary:** A GAO review found NASA has made some progress addressing cybersecurity for Gateway, Orion, and SPHEREx projects but many policies (including the 2019 Space System Protection Standard) remain outdated or optional, prompting GAO to recommend a time‑framed plan to update controls; NASA counters that spacecraft diversity and strict space, weight, and power constraints make universal cybersecurity controls impractical. Experts warn that retrofitting security into constrained operational technology is difficult and that insufficient protections could create serious operational and safety risks for missions and crew.