Munich, DE · Space Systems Security
Leon Birkel
Doctoral Candidate at the Associate Professorship of Embedded Systems and Internet of Things, Technical University of Munich. I research space systems security. My work asks how satellites can trust each other, and their own components, when secret keys are not enough.
About
About
I am a doctoral candidate at the Associate Professorship of Embedded Systems and Internet of Things at the Technical University of Munich, working on space systems security: the security of communication between satellites and of the components inside them.
The direction started with my master's thesis. It asks what authenticates an optical inter-satellite link once its secret keys leak, and it answers with orbital mechanics. Every attack needs a physical seat in space, and holding that seat burns propellant. I am continuing this line of work in my doctorate, across both inter-satellite and intra-satellite security.
Before that I worked as a student assistant at Fraunhofer AISEC (2024–2025). I built a relay kit for attacks on vehicle keyless entry and a post-quantum remote-safety demonstrator. That is the layer where software meets hardware and attacks become physical.
Outside research I founded OPL with two friends in 2018. It is an all-in-one esports tournament platform, and it has grown to more than 50,000 players and 60,000 matches across 17 game titles. I also tinker with IoT, smart home, and 3D printing.
DE Native · EN Fluent
Background
Background
2026 – present
Doctoral Candidate
Embedded Systems & Internet of Things (ESI), TUM
2024 – 2025
Student Research Assistant
Fraunhofer AISEC
2018 – present
Founder
OPL (Birkel, Herberg, Thai GbR)
2016 – 2018
Student Research Assistant
SAP UCC Munich · TUM Chair of Information Systems
Education
2025 – 2026
M.Sc. Informatics
Technical University of Munich
2023 – 2025
B.Sc. Informatics
Technical University of Munich
2016 – 2018
B.Sc. Informatics
Technical University of Munich
2015 – 2016
Early study program in Informatics
TUM, alongside school
Research Topics
Research topics
- 01 space systems security
- 02 inter-satellite link security
- 03 intra-satellite security
- 04 physical-layer authentication
- 05 embedded security
- 06 IoT security
Projects
Projects
01
A kinematic root of trust for laser-linked satellites
Master's thesis. Authenticating optical inter-satellite links through orbital mechanics instead of secret keys.
02
OPL, the all-in-one esports platform
Esports tournament platform I founded in 2018. It now counts 50,000+ players, 63,000+ matches and 17 game titles.
03
A balcony power plant for the homelab
Deploying a balcony solar system (Balkonkraftwerk) in 2026 to run my homelab servers on self-produced green energy.
04
LF/HF relay kit for vehicle keyless entry
Hardware relay kit that forwards car unlock signals over distance. This is the technique behind keyless car theft.
05
Post-quantum remote-safety demonstrator
Remote-safety demonstrator at Fraunhofer AISEC running post-quantum-secure communication, with OpenTitan integration.
06
TUMfast website (IDP)
Rebuilt the TUMfast association website as an Interdisciplinary Project. The team was rewarded with lifelong honorary membership.
07
B.A.S.T.I.O.N., a hardened esports monitoring tool
Bachelor's thesis. Broke the integrity proofs of Moss, the standard esports anti-cheat monitor, then built a hardened replacement.
08
3D-printed reliefs, sold on Etsy
A small print-on-demand venture from 2024. I 3D printed little relief models and sold them through an Etsy shop.
Selected Publications
Selected publications
2025
Securing the Additive Manufacturing Process Chain
Nikolai Puch, Stefan Dopfer, Leon Birkel · International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES 2025), Springer LNCS
Recent News
Recent news
Started my doctorate at the TUM Associate Professorship of Embedded Systems and Internet of Things.
Completed the M.Sc. Informatics at the Technical University of Munich.
This website went live.