Attacking satellites is an old Russian practice. Work on the “space shield” is underway

European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said attacking European space assets or satellites is a long-standing practice by Russia. He added that the EC, together with member states, is working on creating a system to counteract attacks.

The British Financial Times reported that European security officials believe that two Russian spacecraft have intercepted some of the communications of a dozen European satellites, raising concerns about the interception of sensitive information.

– This is a long-standing Russian practice. There is nothing new about this. Of course, attacking European space assets or satellites is something Russia has been doing for years, if not decades. (…) We are perfectly aware of this problem. What exactly are we doing to protect our space assets in the face of potential attacks? Firstly, we already have Galileo, which is able to detect and deter such attacks, the spokesman said.

He added that in the defense road map, the EC proposed the creation of European “space shields”, which will be carried out together with the Member States in order to protect European satellites and space resources. – We know that Russia is doing this and we are ready to counter it if necessary, he said.

The FT reported that Russian spy satellites Luch 1 and Luch 2 had been making “suspicious maneuvers” in orbit in recent years, coming dangerously close to “some of Europe's most important geostationary satellites” and remaining in their vicinity for up to several weeks.

Launched into orbit in 2023, Łucz 2 has since approached at least 17 European satellites, the British newspaper reported, citing data from the American company Slingshot Aerospace, which tracks objects in space.

Both Russian satellites are suspected of conducting SIGINT (signals intelligence) activities, said the head of the German Air Force Space Command, General Michael Traut.

These actions took place during tensions related to Russia's war against Ukraine. Moscow has intensified its hybrid actions against Europe, including: acts of sabotage targeting undersea cables. There are growing concerns that the Kremlin may extend this type of activities also to outer space.

In this context, “FT” recalled the speech of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius from September 2025, in which he described satellite networks as “the Achilles' heel of modern societies.” “Whoever attacks them could paralyze entire nations,” Pistorius said then.

The satellites that Luch 1 and 2 approached are mainly used for civilian purposes, such as broadcasting television signals, but they also transmit sensitive government and even military communications, noted “FT”.

From Brussels Łukasz Osiński (PAP)

luo/ap/