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STARVERI: Efficient and Accurate Verification for Risk-Avoidance Routing in LEO Satellite Networks

Chenwei Gu, Qian Wu, Zeqi Lai, Hewu Li, Jihao Li, Weisen Liu, Qi Zhang, Jun Liu, Yuanjie Li

TL;DR

STARVERI tackles the challenge of verifiable risk-avoidance routing in dynamic LEO satellite networks by introducing a dynamic relay selection framework (AVDRS/DRSA) and a lightweight segment-based verification process. It splits paths into segments bridged by verifiable relays, uses inter-relay probing to ground truth segment delays, and enforces MAC-based authentication to ensure path integrity. In simulations based on Starlink/Kuiper constellation data and StarryNet, STARVERI achieves near-100% verification accuracy, significantly reduces router overhead compared to crypto-based schemes, and maintains practical end-to-end delays through controlled detours. The approach demonstrates strong scalability to thousands of satellites and offers a viable, verifiable path-avoidance mechanism for future LSN deployments with risk-area considerations.

Abstract

Emerging satellite Internet constellations such as SpaceX's Starlink will deploy thousands of broadband satellites and construct Low-Earth Orbit(LEO) satellite networks(LSNs) in space, significantly expanding the boundaries of today's terrestrial Internet. However, due to the unique global LEO dynamics, satellite routers will inevitably pass through uncontrolled areas, suffering from security threats. It should be important for satellite network operators(SNOs) to enable verifiable risk-avoidance routing to identify path anomalies. In this paper, we present STARVERI, a novel network path verification framework tailored for emerging LSNs. STARVERI addresses the limitations of existing crypto-based and delay-based verification approaches and accomplishes efficient and accurate path verification by: (i) adopting a dynamic relay selection mechanism deployed in SNO's operation center to judiciously select verifiable relays for each communication pair over LSNs; and (ii) incorporating a lightweight path verification algorithm to dynamically verify each segment path split by distributed relays. We build an LSN simulator based on real constellation information and the results demonstrate that STARVERI can significantly improve the path verification accuracy and achieve lower router overhead compared with existing approaches.

STARVERI: Efficient and Accurate Verification for Risk-Avoidance Routing in LEO Satellite Networks

TL;DR

STARVERI tackles the challenge of verifiable risk-avoidance routing in dynamic LEO satellite networks by introducing a dynamic relay selection framework (AVDRS/DRSA) and a lightweight segment-based verification process. It splits paths into segments bridged by verifiable relays, uses inter-relay probing to ground truth segment delays, and enforces MAC-based authentication to ensure path integrity. In simulations based on Starlink/Kuiper constellation data and StarryNet, STARVERI achieves near-100% verification accuracy, significantly reduces router overhead compared to crypto-based schemes, and maintains practical end-to-end delays through controlled detours. The approach demonstrates strong scalability to thousands of satellites and offers a viable, verifiable path-avoidance mechanism for future LSN deployments with risk-area considerations.

Abstract

Emerging satellite Internet constellations such as SpaceX's Starlink will deploy thousands of broadband satellites and construct Low-Earth Orbit(LEO) satellite networks(LSNs) in space, significantly expanding the boundaries of today's terrestrial Internet. However, due to the unique global LEO dynamics, satellite routers will inevitably pass through uncontrolled areas, suffering from security threats. It should be important for satellite network operators(SNOs) to enable verifiable risk-avoidance routing to identify path anomalies. In this paper, we present STARVERI, a novel network path verification framework tailored for emerging LSNs. STARVERI addresses the limitations of existing crypto-based and delay-based verification approaches and accomplishes efficient and accurate path verification by: (i) adopting a dynamic relay selection mechanism deployed in SNO's operation center to judiciously select verifiable relays for each communication pair over LSNs; and (ii) incorporating a lightweight path verification algorithm to dynamically verify each segment path split by distributed relays. We build an LSN simulator based on real constellation information and the results demonstrate that STARVERI can significantly improve the path verification accuracy and achieve lower router overhead compared with existing approaches.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 28 sections, 1 theorem, 9 equations, 13 figures, 3 tables, 2 algorithms.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Threat Model and motivation
  3. Preliminaries for low-Earth orbit satellite networks
  4. Potential risks in uncontrolled areas
  5. Are existing path verification methods sufficient?
  6. StarVeri Overview
  7. StarVeri architecture
  8. StarVeri verification workflow
  9. Technical challenges
  10. StarVeri Design Details
  11. Modeling an LSN
  12. Dynamic relay selection
  13. AVDRS Formulation
  14. Dynamic Relay Selection Algorithm (DRSA)
  15. Pre-process at $Src$
  16. ...and 13 more sections

Key Result

Corollary 1

AVDRS problem can be analogized to HPP.

Figures (13)

  • Figure 1: Routing security threats in an LSN: attackers in uncontrolled risk areas may steal information or hijack traffic.
  • Figure 2: Non-linear relationship between the great circle distance and RTTs.
  • Figure 3: Verification inaccuracy of Alibi Routing in dynamic LSNs.
  • Figure 4: StarVeri architecture and an illustration of the key differences from previous verification approaches.
  • Figure 5: Illustration of DRSA workflow.
  • ...and 8 more figures

Theorems & Definitions (2)

  • Corollary 1
  • Proof 1