Security experts in Europe believe that two Russian spacecraft intercepted messages from at least a dozen key satellites over the continent, Financail Times reports, writes UNN.
Details
Officials believe that the alleged interceptions, which have not been previously reported, not only jeopardize confidential information transmitted by satellites but could also allow Moscow to manipulate their trajectories or even cause them to crash.
Russian spacecraft have been more intensively monitoring European satellites over the past three years, a period of high tension between the Kremlin and the West following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the publication notes.
For several years, military and civilian space agencies in the West have been tracking the activities of "Luch-1" and "Luch-2" - two Russian objects that have repeatedly made suspicious maneuvers in orbit, the publication writes.
Both spacecraft made risky close approaches to some of Europe's most important geostationary satellites, operating high above Earth and serving the continent, including Great Britain, as well as much of Africa and the Middle East.
According to orbital data and ground-based telescopic observations, they remained close to Earth for several weeks, especially in the last three years. Since its launch in 2023, "Luch-2" has approached 17 European satellites.
"Both satellites are suspected of 'conducting electronic intelligence,'" said Major General Michael Traut, head of the German Armed Forces Space Command, in an interview with the Financial Times, referring to the practice of satellites remaining close to Western communication satellites.
A senior European intelligence official said that the "Luch-2" spacecraft almost certainly had to be located in a narrow cone of data beams transmitted from ground stations to satellites.
The official expressed concern that confidential information, including command data for European satellites, is not encrypted, as many of them were launched many years ago without modern on-board computers or encryption capabilities.
This makes them vulnerable to future interference, or even destruction, after hostile entities record their command data.
These maneuvers in space are taking place against the backdrop of Russia intensifying its "hybrid warfare" in Europe, including sabotage operations, such as the rupture of underwater internet and power cables, the publication writes.
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Intelligence and military circles are increasingly concerned that the Kremlin may extend such destructive activities into space and is already developing appropriate capabilities for this.
Although China and the United States have developed similar technologies, Russia, the publication writes, has one of the most advanced space espionage programs and is more aggressively using these devices to monitor satellites.
"Satellite networks are the Achilles' heel of modern societies. Anyone who attacks them can paralyze entire nations," said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in a speech last September.
"Russia's activities are a fundamental threat to all of us, especially in space. A threat that we can no longer ignore," he added.
European satellites approached by "Luch-1" and "Luch-2" are noted to be "primarily used for civilian purposes, such as satellite television, but also carry sensitive government and some military communications."
According to a European intelligence official, "Luch-1" and "Luch-2" are unlikely to have the ability to jam or destroy satellites themselves. However, they "have likely provided Russia with large amounts of data on how such systems can be disrupted, both from the ground and in orbit," the publication writes.
Major General Traut said he believes the "Luch" satellites intercepted the "command channel" of the satellites they approached - a channel connecting satellites to ground controllers, allowing for orbital corrections.
Analysts argue that with such information, Russia could impersonate ground operators, transmitting fake commands to satellites to manipulate their engines, which are used for minor orbital corrections.
These engines can also be used to deorbit satellites or even cause them to fall to Earth or drift into space, the publication writes.
"Intelligence gathered by 'Luch-1' and 'Luch-2' could also help Russia coordinate less overt attacks on Western interests," the publication writes. Monitoring other satellites could reveal who is using them and where - information that could later be used for targeted ground jamming or hacking operations.
The "Luch" spacecraft "maneuvered and parked near geostationary satellites, often for many months at a time," said Belinda Marchand, chief scientist at Slingshot Aerospace, an American company that tracks objects in space using ground-based sensors and artificial intelligence.
She added that "Luch-2" is currently "near" Intelsat 39, a large geostationary satellite serving Europe and Africa.
Since its launch in 2023, "Luch-2" has hovered near at least 17 other geostationary satellites over Europe, used for both commercial and government purposes, Slingshot data shows.
"They visited the same families, the same operators, so one can conclude that they have a certain purpose or interest," said Norbert Puzen, a senior orbital analyst at Aldoria, a French satellite tracking company that also tracked the "Luch" satellites. "These are all NATO-based operators."
"Even if they cannot decrypt messages, they can still extract a lot of information... they can, for example, map how a satellite is used, locate ground terminals," he added.
Puzen also said that Russia appears to be intensifying its intelligence activities in space, having launched two new satellites last year called "Kosmos-2589" and "Kosmos-2590." These spacecraft appear to have the same maneuvering capabilities as "Luch-1" and "Luch-2."
"Kosmos-2859" is now moving in the same direction as geostationary satellites, whose orbit is 35,000 km above Earth, Puzen said.
But "Luch-1" may no longer be working. On January 30, ground telescopes observed what appeared to be a plume of gas emanating from the satellite. Shortly thereafter, it appeared to at least partially fragment.
"It looks like it started with something engine-related," Marchand said, adding that there was "definitely fragmentation" afterward, and the satellite "continued to fall."
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