So in the story I'm writing, there is a huge battle occurring for Earth between a rebel fleet and an interplanetary superpower. With a ground war raging below, the superpower's military decides to arm its network of kinetic bombardment platforms stationed in Low Earth Orbit to initiate a strike at the next window in its orbit. However, doing so would leave the platform at it's more vulnerable to attack by the rebel fleet.

So this got me thinking, what would be the safest way for the superpower to carry out a kinetic strike? They could set up the platforms with automatic defenses and launch remotely; but then the connection could be hacked into by the rebels.

On the other hand, the procedure to launch could be carried out by the platform's crew. But if the rebels gained control of the ship, they would have the upper hand until the superpower's fleet could regain or scuttle the platform.

What would be the best method for the superpower to initiate a kinetic strike without compromising the security of their launch platforms as soon as it's armed?