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Russia’s Spy Satellites May Have Hijacked European Signals, Intelligence Warns
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Russian satellites Luch-1 and Luch-2 may have intercepted unencrypted communications from European geostationary satellites, raising concerns over the vulnerability of older space infrastructure, Financial Times reported on February 4, citing European intelligence officials.
According to Financial Times, the two Russian spacecraft performed prolonged and suspicious proximity operations near at least a dozen European satellites over the past three years.
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These satellites, while primarily serving civilian purposes such as television broadcasting, also transmit sensitive governmental and limited military communications across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
German military space command chief Major General Michael Traut told FT that both Luch-1 and Luch-2 are suspected of conducting “signals intelligence” operations. Analysts believe that the satellites positioned themselves within the narrow signal cones used by ground stations to transmit commands, potentially granting Russia access to critical control data.
Intelligence officials cited by Financial Times warned that some European satellites, especially those launched before onboard encryption systems became standard, still use unencrypted control channels.
This opens the possibility that Russian operators could record and later spoof commands—potentially altering a satellite’s orbit, forcing it to deorbit, or causing collisions.
“If they can’t decrypt the message, they can still learn how the satellite is used—such as mapping the ground terminal locations,” said Norbert Bosin, a senior orbital analyst at French firm Aldoria, as quoted by FT.
Belinda Marchand, chief scientist at Slingshot Aerospace, told FT that Luch-2 is currently stationed near Intelsat 39, a major communications satellite that serves Europe and Africa.
While Luch-2 remains operational, Luch-1 may no longer be functional. On January 30, telescopes detected what appeared to be a gas leak followed by partial fragmentation of the satellite.
European officials also noted that Russia is expanding its orbital reconnaissance capabilities. In 2025, Moscow launched Cosmos 2589 and Cosmos 2590, which reportedly feature similar maneuvering capabilities and could be used for continued signal interception missions.
Earlier, on January 30, the Russian Luch satellite—long suspected of conducting signals intelligence for the FSB—was destroyed after reportedly colliding with space debris in a graveyard orbit, according to Swiss firm S2A Systems.
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