Pentagon Impressed by Starlink's Fast Signal-Jamming Workaround in Ukraine

 As reported by PC Mag: SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service is attracting some attention from the Pentagon for its ability to quickly foil signal-jamming attacks that likely came from Russia. 

"In kind of the way Starlink was able to upgrade when a threat showed up, we need to be able to have that agility," Dave Tremper, director of electronic warfare at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, said during the C4ISRNET military conference on Wednesday.

Few details have emerged about the signal-jamming attack Tremper referred to, or how it was stopped. But on March 4, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted about the incident, which affected Starlink dishes in Ukraine. Later, he added: "Some Starlink terminals near conflict areas were being jammed for several hours at a time. Our latest software update bypasses the jamming. Am curious to see what’s next." Three weeks later, he added: "Starlink, at least so far, has resisted all hacking and jamming attempts."

Tremper brought up the incident when he was asked during the C4ISRNET conference whether the war in Ukraine is highlighting any "gaps" in the US’s electronic warfare capabilities.

"It was eye-watering to see the news report that the Russians were trying to jam Starlink, and that almost the next day—I think it was in fact the next day—Starlink had slung a line of code and had fixed it. And suddenly that was not effective anymore," Tremper said. 

He was especially impressed with how quickly Starlink was able to adapt and stop the signal jamming. In contrast, the US military would have needed to go through several steps, involving a "significant timeline" if it faced a similar jamming incident to its equipment.

"There’s a really interesting case study to look at the agility that Starlink had in their ability to address that problem," he added. "And inevitably, what was the impact if they couldn’t address the problem?"

Since late February, SpaceX has been shipping Starlink dishes to Ukraine to help the country stay online in the face of the Russian invasion. Ukraine has already received over 10,000 Starlink dishes, which are being deployed in war-torn areas close to the fighting. 

“My personal experience is that the service has been great,” Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister of digital transformation, told The Washington Post earlier this month.

Russia is Jamming GPS Satellite Signals in Ukraine, US Space Force Says

As reported by Space.com: Another piece of space infrastructure for Ukraine is under attack, according to an NBC report.

Jammers from Russian forces besieging the country are targeting global positioning system (GPS) satellites that are used for navigation, mapping and other purposes, the report said, quoting the U.S. Space Force.

"Ukraine may not be able to use GPS because there are jammers around that prevent them from receiving any usable signal," David Thompson, the Space Force's vice chief of space operations, told NBC Nightly News(opens in new tab) Monday (April 11).

"Certainly the Russians understand the value and importance of GPS and try to prevent others from using it," Thompson added. He noted that Russia has not directly attacked any satellites in orbit, but the Space Force is keeping an eye out for such possibilities.

Specifically, Russia is targeting the Navstar system of satellites used by the United States and made available openly to many countries around the world, Thompson said. (Russia has its own independent system, called GLONASS, while the Europeans have one called Galileo and China has one called Beidou.)

Navstar uses 24 main satellites that each orbit the Earth every 12 hours. The system works by sending synchronized signals to users on Earth. Because the satellites move in different directions, the user receives their signals at slightly different times. When four satellites are available, GPS receivers can use their signals to calculate the user's position, often to within just a few feet.

Ukraine is also suffering from a lack of Internet connectivity as a result of the Russian attacks, which began Feb. 24 and are ongoing. SpaceX, at Ukraine's request, has shipped thousands of Starlink terminals to the country to provide an independent set of infrastructure. 

In early March, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk noted that Starlink signals have also been jammed, although his company is adapting. "Some Starlink terminals near conflict areas were being jammed for several hours at a time," Musk wrote via Twitter(opens in new tab) on March 1. "Our latest software update bypasses the jamming."