VERY CLEVER: Space War: Russia is jamming GPS satellite signals in Ukraine & also knocking out Internet – My Comments
[This is very clever. This is the cleverest thing yet that the Russians have done. I'm impressed. I thought Ukraine actually had the Internet. I did not know there was successful jamming going on. I'm extremely interested in this aspect. I had wondered why Putin had not knocked out the Internet. However the effectiveness is clearly not 100%. But the GPS satellite signals being knocked out is very clever. This interests me. I'm very impressed. All wars in the future are basically "world wars" and if this is happening then this is like WW1, and the first use of aircraft. From here onwards, we will see some kind of new technology as there is a war to prevent satellites from doing things on the ground. As wonderful as satellites are, I must tell you, they could be a very big nuisance depending on which side you are on, and I was wondering if there were other ways of hiding things from satellites. Because, I think there will be wars, where we, as Whites, would want to hide many things. To have everyone looking at your stuff, and then helping the enemy kill you … is not good. This war may cause some serious threats to the US monopoly of satellites. These satellites see far too much and the information the USA can give to anyone, can be very dangerous. This is a topic I'd like to follow a lot more. This is a fascinating development. Jan]
Ukraine may not be able to use GPS,’ a Space Force official told NBC.
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," Gen. David Thompson, the Space Force’s vice chief of space operations, told NBC Nightly News 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 on March 1. "Our latest software update bypasses the jamming."