Russia is concentrated on UK area infrastructure, and specifically army satellites, on a weekly foundation, in line with the top of UK House Command.
In an interview with the BBC, Maj Gen Paul Tedman mentioned that Russia was once “shadowing” UK satellites. Shadowing comes to orbiting and aligning a satellite tv for pc on the subject of the objective satellite tv for pc, to be able to be close to sufficient to jam communications or intercept alerts to scouse borrow important data.
Tedman mentioned Russia’s satellites had “payloads on board that can see our satellites and are trying to collect information from them”. He additionally showed that jamming of UK army satellites was once going down.
This comes to broadcasting alerts at the similar frequencies as the ones utilized by satellites, to be able to deliberately disrupt or crush respectable alerts. It does no longer bodily harm spacecraft, in order quickly because the jamming sign is now not being emitted, communications may also be restored. The jamming of satellite tv for pc alerts can happen from the bottom, ocean or air, in addition to from area.
However what about different ways that may be used to disrupt satellites? Something no longer discussed on the subject of the assaults on British army satellites, is the usage of lasers. Those may also be deployed to dazzle satellites’ onboard optical sensors. This may intrude with digital circuity however would no longer motive lasting bodily harm.
Essentially the most severe form of assault after all could be the usage of a direct-ascent missile, which may also be introduced from the bottom, sea or air, to ruin an orbiting satellite tv for pc. Earlier exams of this type of anti-satellite (Asat) weapon have generated being worried ranges of orbiting particles. This particles can then collide with different satellites, probably producing much more particles for different space-based belongings to keep away from.
On February 24, 2022, the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, satellite tv for pc broadband customers throughout Europe were given a style of the type of assaults that the army is now used to. A cyber-attack was once introduced towards Viasat’s Ka-Sat satellite tv for pc community, which gives web get right of entry to to tens of hundreds of folks throughout Ukraine and the remainder of Europe. Professionals mentioned they believed the aim of the assault was once to break provider slightly than to get right of entry to knowledge or techniques.
A contemporary communicate by means of German IT researchers additionally published how a lot harm hackers may probably do if given unfettered get right of entry to to a satellite tv for pc’s onboard techniques. The mavens mentioned that attackers may exploit vulnerabilities in open supply device utilized by Nasa and Airbus to keep an eye on satellites. This in flip may give the intruders get right of entry to to the keep an eye on purposes on a satellite tv for pc, letting them trade its orbit by means of sending a command to fireside its thrusters.
Assaults don’t want to goal the satellite tv for pc without delay. Focused on keep an eye on stations at the flooring too can disrupt operation of the satellites in orbit. This may even have penalties for finish customers of a satellite tv for pc provider.
Wider drawback
It’s no longer simply the United Kingdom’s satellites which might be being focused, alternatively. In September, the top of French area command Maj Gen Vincent Chusseau mentioned there were a spike in adversarial job in area. Chusseau mentioned job had larger since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He mentioned that adversaries, particularly Russia, have assorted strategies of disrupting satellites and that jamming, lasers and cyber-attacks have grow to be common.
In September 2025, the United States and UK carried out their first coordinated satellite tv for pc manoeuvre.
Christopher DeWitt, House Command
The similar month, Brig Gen Christopher Horner, commander of three Canadian House Department advised an area safety summit that there have been greater than 200 anti-satellite guns orbiting Earth.
Whilst he didn’t supply main points on their nature, he mentioned it was once a “shocking number” to threaten allied satellites.
Larger funding
It’s conceivable to satellites by means of bettering the encryption of knowledge transmitted to them in addition to with anti-jamming generation. This makes use of quite a few tactics to dam out or nullify the alerts utilized by jammers to intrude with satellite tv for pc communications. It’s additionally vital to verify there are selection suppliers for important area products and services as a backup in case of assault.
According to expanding threats to UK satellite tv for pc infrastructure, the United Kingdom govt has just lately larger its funding in tasks geared against area safety. The federal government has invested £500,000 in a venture to increase sensors that counter lasers used to blind satellites. The United Kingdom has additionally just lately evolved Borealis, a device platform designed to observe and give protection to important UK and allied satellites.
In addition to making an investment in its personal tasks, the United Kingdom has additionally sought to enhance space-based safety by means of strengthening world partnerships. As an example, the United Kingdom just lately invested €163 million (£141 million) in Eutelsat, which gives satellite tv for pc web and is a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink device.
Starlink’s significance no longer just for shoppers, but in addition for army packages has been demonstrated within the Ukraine conflict – the place Ukrainian troops had come to depend closely on it for battlefield communications. However the problem to this dependency on a privately owned corporate akin to Starlink was once highlighted when Musk denied protection to Kyiv in 2023.
The funding in Eutelsat no longer handiest strengthens space-based collaboration between the United Kingdom and France, but in addition boosts an organization offering a backup device for satellite tv for pc communications.
The United States and UK additionally just lately carried out their first coordinated satellite tv for pc manoeuvre. The United States repositioned one in every of its personal satellites to inspect a UK satellite tv for pc to verify it was once running generally. This sort of manoeuvre may probably be used following an assault designed to disable a spacecraft.
The experiences of Russian meddling spotlight the significance of safety in orbit as world tensions proceed to increase into area.
