In that recent RAND article I posted, they mention the potential for attacking satellites with nuclear weapons. Well, a simpler kind of attack is already happening. A number of Iranian expatriates have been broadcasting pro-protest stations into Iran via satellite. Now, someone in South America is jamming that satellite. Apparently, it's something you can do with a relatively small dish of your own, and they haven't even managed to triangulate the source yet.
What's scary is just how easy this seems, just like how easy it seems for malicious hackers to disrupt our critical infrastructure in general.
I'd love to see some summary of the history of political satellite jamming, but that article doesn't have that info.
Comments (2)
Satellite Jamming is becoming a regular news item in the last year. Time to write the proposal for "Satellite Jamming for Dummies".
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2002/020930-prc.htm
[ From MSDN article on Cuba jamming U.S. signals to Iran ]
Said the investigator: ?You need a dish, some power, not too much. You put up a test pattern ... and do a sweep and find the transponder on the satellite you want to jam. It could even be smaller than the standard 6-meter dish. It could be a small dish with a lot of power.?
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2002/020930-prc.htm
The operation and image of Sino Satellite Communications Corp (Sinosat) has been seriously affected by the latest hi-jacking episodes which occurred in June and September. The normal transmissions of SINOSAT-1 were interrupted by Falun Gong cult members, its chief engineer Min Changning said Monday.
"SINOSAT-I is in fact the first civilian satellite ever to have been maliciously interfered with since the world's first commercial telecommunications satellite was put into use in the 1960s,'' Min said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=21409
China has developed and successfully ground-tested a new anti-satellite weapon designed to "stick" to the body of enemy satellites so as to go unnoticed, then rendering it ineffective through jamming when activated.
The anti-satellite weapon, called a "parasitic satellite," will be deployed experimentally and tested in space in the near future, according to the Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tai Jih Pao.
Posted by rferrisx | July 21, 2003
Look, from someone on the inside. Jammng is a hell of lot harder than what you think. The conventional "sweep and amp" technique went out in the early - mid 80's. Satellites now can shut down transponders when jammed then trace the signal back to within a square foot of the source. And China, OK. Satellites report back if a PEBBLE from 100 miles away will hit it... Nevertheless the intrusion or disturbance devices on board so even if the Satellite passed gas, we would have the gaseous breakdown of it before it got halfway out. The concept is scary to unknowing people, i.e. general public..But just to keep you safe and tucked in at night, remember this concept. If you can think of it, someone way up the food chain has already devised a counterplan 20 years ago.
Posted by Deepthroat | February 17, 2004