Russia Allegedly Jams US-Made GPS In Ukraine; Is SpaceX Starlink Affected?

Russia is allegedly conducting a significant jamming operation to block Ukraine's access to GPS signals. If successful, it would severely limit Ukraine's capacity to traverse the battlefield and operate modern aerial equipment like drones.

Furthermore, these newest measures aim to sabotage new US-supplied technology, particularly tiny sophisticated drones, and come after numerous claims that Russia jammed GPS in Ukraine immediately before the Feb. 24 invasion.

Russia Jams US-Made GPS in Ukraine

Gen. David Thompson of the US Space Force said in an NBC interview on Monday that Russia is aiming directly at US communications infrastructure.

He underscored that Russia is messing with GPS signals given by the United States in Ukraine.

While Russia and China have their own GPS satellites, NBC program narrator and Pentagon reporter Tom Costello stated in that program that most of the globe relies on the GPS given by the US for free.

The report continued that Russia has also apparently disrupted the GPS systems civilian planes use along its borders with Finland.

Space Force Gen. Thompson added that the Russians are making a "clear message to us about their aim to jeopardize our capabilities," including the possibility that the Kremlin may take direct action against US GPS satellites in space.

Additonally, The Washington Post (via MSN) said European officials had implicated Russian authorities for recent delays to commercial aircraft's satellite navigation systems between Finland and the Black Sea.

ALSO READ: Solar Flares a Threat to Communication Systems, Geomagnetic Storms May Damage More Satellites in the Coming Years

Last month, HawkEye 360, a radio frequency analytics firm based in the United States, claimed that Russia had blocked GPS signals across Ukraine in the months preceding the invasion on Feb. 24.

According to HawkEye 360, Russian GPS jamming disabled Ukrainian drones in Luhansk and Donetsk in November. The Switchblade and Puma drones that the US has delivered to Ukraine use GPS coordinates to strike targets and navigate.

NAVSTAR, SpaceX Starlink Satellite Affected

Space.com said, citing Thompson, that Russia is specifically targeting the Navstar satellite system, which the US utilizes and made freely available to numerous countries across the world.

Russia has its own separate system, GLONASS, whereas Europe uses Galileo and China uses Beidou.

Navstar employs 24 primary satellites and each orbits the Earth once every 12 hours. Users on Earth get synchronized signals from the system.

The user receives their signals at slightly different times because the satellites travel in separate directions.

When four satellites are accessible, GPS receivers can compute the user's position using their signals, frequently to within a few feet.

The Russian strikes, which began on Feb. 24 and are still ongoing, have also resulted in a shortage of Internet access throughout Ukraine.

At Ukraine's request, SpaceX has sent thousands of Starlink terminals to the country to give the country its own infrastructure.

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, stated that Starlink signals had also been blocked in early March but that his organization is adjusting.

"Some Starlink terminals near conflict areas were being jammed for several hours at a time," he said in a tweet.

RELATED ARTICLE: Experts Reveal That 3% Of SpaceX's Starlink Satellites Have Failed In Orbit So Far

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Times.