At the end of February, a heated discussion before the cameras between Volodimir Zelenski and Donald Trump changed the situation in Ukraine, Warning to the European Union. One of the immediate concerns was that Ukraine lost access to Starlinkwho has had a key role in war. But while Europe is looking for alternatives To the constellation of Spacex satellites, Russia and China are developing, separately, electronic and military countermeasures.
Starlink is a strategic asset. Both in Its military version, called Starshieldas in its commercial version. When Russia left conventional communication satellite networks (VIASAT, Iridium, Immarsat…), Starlink gave a crucial advantage to Ukraine.
The commercial company led by Elon Musk not only had the capacity to send more terminals and antennas to the front, but proved to be more resistant to “Jamming”Russian cyber attacks based on electronic interference. Spacex internally manufactures satellites, antennas and partially reusable rockets, a vertical integration that has put it decades away from the competition.
Starlink has more than 7,000 satellites in the low orbit. At this altitude, they complete a return to the earth every 90 minutes, so different satellites are going through the sky to serve a certain area. Cybeards and Jamming are more effective with companies that have a few geostationary satellites, which remain fixed at 36,000 km of altitude.
In search of the Killer Starlink. The use of the Spacex Satellites Network in military conflicts has led Russia and China to reinforce its countermeasures. A Recent report De Secure World Foundation stressed that Starlink was a kremlin priority objective after having demonstrated its usefulness in the Ukraine War.
Russia has been developing the Kalinka system, Nicknamed the “Starlink Killer”to detect and interfere with protected military communications of the Constellation “Starshield”launched by Spacex and operated by the number. According to Ukrainian sources, Ukraine military forces suffer from Starlink interruptions since May 2024, which is attributed to Russian experimentation in advanced electronic war methods, which not only affect military communications, but also the use of drones.
Russia uses the Tobol system to interfere with satellite signals. It is believed that there are at least ten Tobol devices distributed in Russian territory, and one of them could be located in the Russian base of Kalinningradbetween Lithuania and Poland. Tobol has also been used to try to block the satellite transmissions that Ukraine uses in its operations. Members of the European Union, such as Finland, Poland and Sweden, have noticed GPS failures during use.
Strange maneuvers in the land low orbit. China advances in parallel to Russia in its spatial developments against Starlink, according to US sources cited by the report. The United States Space Force has observed several Chinese satellites in Coordinated proximity maneuvers. Although these operations in flight could be used for peaceful purposes, such as naves maintenance or space garbage withdrawal, the United States believes that they are being tested to disable or capture rival satellites in case of conflict.
Chinese maneuvers, together with the increase of Chinese satellites dedicated to intelligence work, They have put the pentagon on alertalthough the United States is not far behind in military deployments in space. Even Russia has had advances in this defensive development: recently, they demonstrated how some Russian satellites could surround and isolate another ship in low orbit.
The definitive and definitely illegal weapon. The Pentagon believes that Moscow is at the same time chasing the idea of placing nuclear weapons in space capable of Generate electromagnetic pulses (EMP), which would be devastating against satellite constellations. In turn, they could trigger a catastrophic collisions waterfall known as Kessler’s syndrome, by the astrophysicist who predicted it.
The Treaty on the Ultra -Site Space of 1967 prohibits the placement of weapons of mass destruction in orbit, but it is an increasingly questioned document by both sides. The last affront the agreement was released by Elon Musk in a political rally, when he declared that Mars would be part of the United Statesviolating another of the key points of the treaty, that the celestial bodies are not subject to demands of sovereignty.
Image | Spacex
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