3 ms·

Starlink can be jammed.

by josefresco 3mo ago

mothballed 3mo ago
It would be easier to shoot it out of the sky than try and jam a whole country from starlink
- verdverm 3mo ago
  Putting aside the geopolitics of satellite destruction, we're likely moving to the realm of microwave based disablement instead of kinetic. It's the thing that can scale and provide some plausible deniability while the numbers are low.
- inigyou 3mo ago
  Might be easier to jam the uplink. Just modify some starlink units to transmit nonsense and place them around the country.
kristjank 3mo ago
Jamming can be defeated quite funnily, by digging a pit and putting the antenna at the bottom of it.
- josefresco 3mo ago
  Thanks for sharing, very interesting: https://www.technology.org/2023/08/01/did-russia-learn-to-jam-starlink-satellites-ukraine-is-already-using-a-simple-but-effective-protection/ https://www.technology.org/2023/08/01/did-russia-learn-to-ja...
- close04 3mo ago
  Or fly a plane or drone overhead and see [0] where the terminals are. After a few fines most people would decide it’s not worth the risk. I remember how the Uber rollout worked in Berlin. Uber said they don’t need to comply with anything the city asked for and enjoyed their position in the safety of an ocean away so the local authorities instituted eye watering fines for drivers caught providing Uber rides. Uber decided to comply. [0] https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/quadrf-can-spot-drones-and-see-wifi-through-my-wall/ https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/quadrf-can-spot-drone...
  - mothballed 3mo ago
    I can see how that worked in Berlin. In USA or someplace with a healthier culture of resistance that would fail laughably. Americans will drive with no license, registration, in cars they've stolen back from the repo man because they refuse to pay anything to anyone. When my car was totalled by an illegal alien, the police didn't even show up, wisely because they were surely driving without license, identity documents, insurance, registration, or any sort of recoverable assets or any way to punish them but to throw them in an overflowing jail. You could try fining them but it would be like trying to draw blood from a stone. I suppose could try to jail them, but you'd find our jails are already full, and we already let violent criminals out on bail. In much of the world including USA poor people will slang crack for $5 under threat of life in jail and fines higher than they could ever hope to pay. Suffice to say there's an endless line of people willing to uber for roughly crack slinging wages without the risk of life imprisonment even if the fines are as bad -- because their alternatives are worse.
    - ted_dunning 3mo ago
      Albania and Georgia have much healthier culture of resistance than the US. The US has almost entirely lost this culture except for short moments in isolated places. Minneapolis is nearly a proof by exception in this. Very, very few people need to be detained or killed to get the mass of Americans to stay inside and self-censor. Much less is required to get businesses to put their head down and play nice with the government.
      - mdgld 3mo ago
        FR lol, people in the US love to talk a big game but most of us take the freedoms for granted and will fold at the drop of a hat when real consequences are on the line
    - close04 3mo ago
      I think you wanted the opportunity to beat that “healthy culture of resistance” drum. Every tweaker, every inbred, every starved person acting out of desperation is Rosa Parks now. You name things and decide that‘s “resistance”. People break the law because there’s no real consequence or because they just have nothing to lose. They’re not “resisting”, they’re surviving. The US society decided that a large class of people will be forced to operate at that level their whole life and are incentivized to do worse by the insane punishment model applied only to them. The only people doing the “resisting” in the US are those who can afford a good lawyer. Everyone else does what the cracks in the system allow, or what they need to do out of desperation. No German Uber driver is desperate enough to risk their whole livelihood especially for that meager payoff. Most civilized countries make sure that people have something to lose which will keep people acting straight rather than always act on desperation. Depending on your goal, having people exercise self restraint works better than restraining them with tasers, chokeholds, and bullets to the back. > because their alternatives are worse. Ah, ok. So not “a healthy culture of resistance” but more “desperation because the country made sure that’s driving them”.
- everfrustrated 3mo ago
  Why do you think China is putting lots of satellites into space.... All those tons into orbit isn't for the lolz.
- Terr_ 3mo ago
  That stops working when the jamming is coming from a hostile satellite that's also in the sky.

Starlink can be jammed.

mothballed 3mo ago

It would be easier to shoot it out of the sky than try and jam a whole country from starlink

verdverm 3mo ago
Putting aside the geopolitics of satellite destruction, we're likely moving to the realm of microwave based disablement instead of kinetic. It's the thing that can scale and provide some plausible deniability while the numbers are low.
inigyou 3mo ago
Might be easier to jam the uplink. Just modify some starlink units to transmit nonsense and place them around the country.

kristjank 3mo ago

Jamming can be defeated quite funnily, by digging a pit and putting the antenna at the bottom of it.

josefresco 3mo ago
Thanks for sharing, very interesting: https://www.technology.org/2023/08/01/did-russia-learn-to-jam-starlink-satellites-ukraine-is-already-using-a-simple-but-effective-protection/ https://www.technology.org/2023/08/01/did-russia-learn-to-ja...
close04 3mo ago
Or fly a plane or drone overhead and see [0] where the terminals are. After a few fines most people would decide it’s not worth the risk. I remember how the Uber rollout worked in Berlin. Uber said they don’t need to comply with anything the city asked for and enjoyed their position in the safety of an ocean away so the local authorities instituted eye watering fines for drivers caught providing Uber rides. Uber decided to comply. [0] https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/quadrf-can-spot-drones-and-see-wifi-through-my-wall/ https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/quadrf-can-spot-drone...
- mothballed 3mo ago
  I can see how that worked in Berlin. In USA or someplace with a healthier culture of resistance that would fail laughably. Americans will drive with no license, registration, in cars they've stolen back from the repo man because they refuse to pay anything to anyone. When my car was totalled by an illegal alien, the police didn't even show up, wisely because they were surely driving without license, identity documents, insurance, registration, or any sort of recoverable assets or any way to punish them but to throw them in an overflowing jail. You could try fining them but it would be like trying to draw blood from a stone. I suppose could try to jail them, but you'd find our jails are already full, and we already let violent criminals out on bail. In much of the world including USA poor people will slang crack for $5 under threat of life in jail and fines higher than they could ever hope to pay. Suffice to say there's an endless line of people willing to uber for roughly crack slinging wages without the risk of life imprisonment even if the fines are as bad -- because their alternatives are worse.
  - ted_dunning 3mo ago
    Albania and Georgia have much healthier culture of resistance than the US. The US has almost entirely lost this culture except for short moments in isolated places. Minneapolis is nearly a proof by exception in this. Very, very few people need to be detained or killed to get the mass of Americans to stay inside and self-censor. Much less is required to get businesses to put their head down and play nice with the government.
    - mdgld 3mo ago
      FR lol, people in the US love to talk a big game but most of us take the freedoms for granted and will fold at the drop of a hat when real consequences are on the line
  - close04 3mo ago
    I think you wanted the opportunity to beat that “healthy culture of resistance” drum. Every tweaker, every inbred, every starved person acting out of desperation is Rosa Parks now. You name things and decide that‘s “resistance”. People break the law because there’s no real consequence or because they just have nothing to lose. They’re not “resisting”, they’re surviving. The US society decided that a large class of people will be forced to operate at that level their whole life and are incentivized to do worse by the insane punishment model applied only to them. The only people doing the “resisting” in the US are those who can afford a good lawyer. Everyone else does what the cracks in the system allow, or what they need to do out of desperation. No German Uber driver is desperate enough to risk their whole livelihood especially for that meager payoff. Most civilized countries make sure that people have something to lose which will keep people acting straight rather than always act on desperation. Depending on your goal, having people exercise self restraint works better than restraining them with tasers, chokeholds, and bullets to the back. > because their alternatives are worse. Ah, ok. So not “a healthy culture of resistance” but more “desperation because the country made sure that’s driving them”.
everfrustrated 3mo ago
Why do you think China is putting lots of satellites into space.... All those tons into orbit isn't for the lolz.
Terr_ 3mo ago
That stops working when the jamming is coming from a hostile satellite that's also in the sky.