European officials are concerned that Russian spacecraft have moved close enough to eavesdrop on satellite command links.
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European officials believe that two Russian “Inspector” SIGINT spacecraft operating in geostationary orbit have intercepted communications from at least a dozen European satellites. According to the Financial Times , both spacecraft have made “risky close approaches” to some of Europe’s most important satellites, which operate high above Earth and serve not only Europe but also parts of Africa and the Middle East.
The two Russian spacecraft are thought to be associated with the Luch program, with the intercepts taking place at roughly 22,000 miles above the Earth. Russian spacecraft have been shadowing European satellites more intensively over the past three-or-so years following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, and the Luch-1 and Luch-2 craft are known to have carried out several suspicious manoeuvres while in orbit.
Orbital data and ground-based telescopic observations reportedly show that the two craft have lingered nearby for several weeks at a time, with Luch-2 having approached 17 European satellites since its launch in 2023. Both satellites are said to have done “sigint [signals intelligence] business”, said Major General Michael Traut, head of the German military’s space command, in comments to the Financial Times .
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/russian-inspector-satellites-suspected-of-intercepting-european-communications#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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