FT: Russia may have intercepted data from key European satellites

Two Russian spacecraft may have intercepted communications from at least a dozen key satellites over Europe. This is the opinion of unnamed security officials, the newspaper Financial Times.

The interlocutors of the publication say that Russian Luch-1 and Luch-2 spacecraft have begun to monitor European satellites more intensively over the past three years. This was indicated by their "repeated suspicious maneuvers in orbit." This includes "risky approaches" to important European geostationary satellites that serve the continent, including the United Kingdom, as well as much of Africa and the Middle East. Russian vehicles "lingered near European satellites for weeks".

The publication notes that the European satellites approached by the Russian spacecraft are used mainly for civilian purposes, such as satellite television. However, they also carry confidential government and some military communications.

"Both satellites are suspected of 'performing signal reconnaissance,'" says Michael Trout, head of the German military's space command.

According to an unnamed European intelligence official, the Luch vehicles "were almost certainly designed to position themselves in a narrow cone of data beams transmitted from ground stations to satellites."

Speaking to the FT, he expressed concern that sensitive information, such as command data for European satellites, is not encrypted, as many of them were launched when there were no advanced onboard computers and encryption capabilities.

Officials attribute this activity to the high tensions between the Kremlin and the West following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to a European intelligence official, Luch-1 and Luch-2 are unlikely to be able to jam or destroy satellites on their own. However, they have likely provided Russia with large amounts of data on how such systems can be disrupted, both from the ground and in orbit.

Officials acknowledge that European satellites are vulnerable to interference, and that possible intercepts could not only compromise sensitive information but also allow Moscow to manipulate their trajectories.

Intelligence and military officials are increasingly concerned that the Kremlin could extend such destructive activities into space and are already developing capabilities to do so.

• In September 2025, the FT wrote that a Russian reconnaissance ship had been spotted in British territorial waters, monitors Europe's submarine cables.
• In December, the AP wrote that Russia may be developing anti-satellite weapons to attack the Starlink system.