Russian Spacecraft Allegedly Intercept European Satellite Signals

According to a report by the Financial Times on February 4, European security officials have disclosed that two Russian spacecraft have intercepted communication signals from over a dozen critical satellites above Europe. According to Jin10, these previously undisclosed interception activities could threaten the security of sensitive information transmitted by the satellites and potentially enable Russia to manipulate satellite orbits or even cause them to crash. The relationship between Russia and Western countries is currently highly strained. Over the past three years, there has been a noticeable increase in Russian spacecraft 'shadowing' and closely approaching European satellites. Western military and civilian space agencies have been tracking two Russian spacecraft, Luch-1 and Luch-2, for years. These spacecraft have repeatedly performed maneuvers deemed 'abnormal and suspicious' by industry experts during their orbital operations. Notably, these Russian spacecraft have frequently risked close approaches to some of Europe's most important geostationary satellites.