Germany’s defence minister has warned his nation’s satellites are being shadowed by Russian satellites.
Boris Pistorius cited considerations over two Luch/Olymp satellites close to Intelsat satellites utilized by German armed forces and others.
He informed a Berlin area convention: “Russia and China have expanded their capabilities for warfare in space rapidly over the past years.
“They’ll disrupt satellite tv for pc operations, blind satellites, manipulate or kinetically destroy them.”
He mentioned Germany’s army had already been focused by jamming assaults.
Intelsat is as US-Luxembourg agency working greater than 50 satellites utilized by non-public corporations in addition to authorities companies.
The 2 Russian satellites in query – launched in 2014 and 2023 – have lengthy been accused of “loitering” and “eavesdropping” on others by stopping close by.
French area start-up Aldoria mentioned it noticed one Russian satellite tv for pc performing a “sudden close approach” to a different one in Might 2024.
The yr earlier than, US agency Slingshot Aerospace reported “unfriendly” behaviour – with one of many satellites displaying a sample through which it was stopping close to non-Russian satellites.
Geostationary satellites not often transfer and often spend years in the identical place.
The warning comes amid hypothesis Russia is likely to be behind drones which have disrupted a number of airports in Denmark this week.
It additionally follows NATO jets being scrambled final week when Russian jets violated Estonian airspace.
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Navy analyst Sean Bell mentioned the closest cease noticed by one of many Russian satellites was about 10km (6 miles) – very shut in area phrases, particularly as they’re shifting at round 3km a second.
“It does sound a bit like Moonraker and it’s definitely a threat to our military comms, and potentially space-based capabilities,” he added.
Bell mentioned working close to one other satellite tv for pc may give a hostile nation the possibility to jam communications or manipulate it.
The German defence minister used Thursday’s convention to unveil a €35bn (£30bn) funding within the nation’s area programmes over the following 5 years.
Mr Pistorius mentioned it was essential to carry talks on creating offensive capabilities in area as a deterrent to hostile actions.
As he was talking, he informed delegates: “39 Chinese and Russian reconnaissance satellites are flying over us… so be careful what you say”.
