UK Space Command chief Major-General Paul Tedman has warned that Russia is engaging in persistent attempts to disrupt British military satellites, saying Russian forces are “jamming our satellites … on a reasonably persistent basis,” including “weekly” efforts to interfere with satellite operations.
Tedman, speaking to the BBC, said that Russia is not only trying to jam the UK satellites but is also using payloads aboard Russian spacecraft to shadow British assets, gathering intelligence on their movements and capabilities. The UK currently operates about six dedicated military satellites used for communication and surveillance, all of which have counter-jamming protections, though Tedman emphasised that the threat remains serious and growing.
In response to the heightened risk, the UK government is investing in new detection technology to guard against laser-based threats which might “blind” or “dazzle” space assets and to monitor electromagnetic interference from ground- or space-based sources. He spoke during a visit to RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire, a key site for missile warning and space surveillance.
Tedman framed this escalation as part of a broader pattern emerging since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, with adversarial space-based activity becoming more frequent and aggressive. He warned that national infrastructure—from military command-and-control to navigation, communications, weather forecasting, and even financial systems—depends heavily on the integrity of space assets, making their protection a strategic priority.
UK has begun closer cooperation with allies under frameworks like Operation Olympic Defender, including manoeuvres in orbit to inspect and verify the health of its satellites, and steps to build resilience through redundancy: more satellites in a constellation so that if one is compromised, others can take over.
