Key points
- Space infrastructure has three parts that can be attacked: the satellites, the radio links to them and the ground systems that control them and serve users.
- The most damaging known case, the Viasat KA-SAT attack on 24 February 2022, came through the ground network. It knocked thousands of satellite modems offline and cut remote control of about 5,800 wind turbines in Germany. The EU, UK and US attributed it to Russia.
- Jamming of satellite navigation signals has disrupted civil aviation around the Baltic. In 2024 Finnair suspended flights to Tartu, Estonia, after GPS interference forced two flights to turn back.
- Many services on Earth depend on space, including navigation, timing for power grids and banking, and emergency communications, so disruption in space has effects on the ground.
Satellites provide navigation, communications, weather data and precise timing to systems that most people never see: aircraft, ships, mobile networks, power grids and payment systems. That dependence makes space infrastructure a strategic target. Most real attacks so far have not touched a satellite directly. They have gone after the ground systems and radio signals around it.
The three parts of a space system
- The space segment: the satellites themselves, including their onboard software.
- The link segment: the radio signals between satellites, ground stations and users, which can be jammed, spoofed or intercepted.
- The ground segment: control centres, ground stations, management networks and user terminals. This is ordinary IT and is where most attacks happen.
Case study: the Viasat KA-SAT attack (2022)
On 24 February 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, attackers disabled modems used on Viasat’s KA-SAT satellite broadband network. They got in through a VPN appliance at a network management centre, moved to the management systems, and pushed a destructive wiper, later named AcidRain, to the modems. Thousands of terminals in Ukraine and across Europe stopped working, and about 5,800 Enercon wind turbines in Germany lost remote monitoring and control (Wikipedia summary of sources).
On 10 May 2022, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States attributed the attack to Russia. The EU said it was intended to support the invasion and caused “indiscriminate communication outages” (BleepingComputer). Denmark’s Ministry of Defence also joined the attribution (Danish Ministry of Defence). The case shows how an attack on one satellite network can spill into energy infrastructure in another country.
Jamming and spoofing satellite navigation
Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals, such as GPS, are weak by the time they reach Earth and are easy to overpower. Jamming drowns out the signal; spoofing broadcasts a fake one so that a receiver calculates the wrong position or time.
Around the Baltic Sea, interference has affected large numbers of civilian flights. In April 2024, two Finnair flights from Helsinki to Tartu, Estonia, turned back because of GPS jamming, and Finnair suspended the route from 29 April to 31 May until an approach that did not depend on GPS was available. Estonia’s foreign minister called the interference “a deliberate hybrid attack” by Russia (The Record). Russia did not respond to the accusations.
Pilots are trained to fly without GPS, and no crash has been linked to this interference. But the loss of a layer of safety, especially near airports and at sea, raises risk, and errors in GNSS timing can disrupt networks that rely on it.
Attacks on satellites themselves
Directly hacking a satellite is harder, but not impossible. Older satellites were often designed with little or no authentication on their command links, on the assumption that only the operator could reach them. Security researchers have demonstrated weaknesses in satellite software in controlled settings. As commercial constellations grow and use more standard software, the attack surface grows with them.
Why space attacks matter on Earth
- Transport safety: aviation and shipping use satellite navigation, and maritime distress systems use satellite communications.
- Timing: power grids, mobile networks and financial systems rely on GNSS timing signals.
- Emergency response: disaster areas often depend on satellite communications when ground networks fail.
- Military and humanitarian operations: the KA-SAT attack hit Ukrainian communications at the start of the war.
How space systems can be secured
The US government set out cybersecurity principles for space systems in Space Policy Directive-5 in September 2020, calling for protection against unauthorised access, encryption of command links, protection of ground systems and supply-chain risk management (Space Policy Directive-5). In practice that means:
- authenticating and encrypting satellite commands;
- treating ground stations and management networks as critical infrastructure, with multi-factor authentication and segmentation;
- being able to update and recover user terminals remotely and securely;
- keeping backup navigation and timing sources, so services can continue if GNSS is jammed;
- sharing threat information between satellite operators and governments.
Related research
See also weaponised drones and cyber warfare, and the series Cyberattacks That Endanger Human Lives, including attacks on transport systems and power grids.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Viasat cyberattack?
On 24 February 2022, attackers used the AcidRain wiper to disable thousands of modems on Viasat’s KA-SAT satellite network, disrupting users in Ukraine and Europe and cutting remote control of about 5,800 wind turbines in Germany. The EU, UK and US attributed it to Russia.
What is the difference between GPS jamming and spoofing?
Jamming overpowers satellite navigation signals so receivers lose them. Spoofing transmits false signals so receivers calculate the wrong position or time.
Can hackers take control of a satellite?
It is difficult, but older satellites often lack strong command authentication and researchers have shown weaknesses in satellite software. Most real attacks so far have targeted ground systems and signals instead.
How do cyber attacks on space affect people on Earth?
They can disrupt navigation for aircraft and ships, the timing used by power grids and banks, and emergency communications.
Last reviewed: 22 October 2026.
