Satellite war: Russia's balloon plan to disable Starlink in Ukraine

Starlink—the satellite internet service provided by Elon Musk's company—is as crucial to Ukrainians as weapons. The resilient and secure communication that Ukraine relies on is a significant hindrance to the Russians, who have suggested an unusual method to deactivate Starlink.

Starlink—a satellite internet solution provided by Elon Musk's company—has been a cornerstone of the Ukrainian military's robust resistance against Russian aggressors for over two years. Nearly 10,000 terminals were sent to Ukraine at the beginning of the conflict.

Thanks to Starlink terminals, internet access is available even in remote areas. According to Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, Starlink has become a critical communication infrastructure.

The Russians (who also use Starlink) have been striving to disrupt this service since the onset of the conflict. Though possible, the area of interference is negligible.

For this reason, the Russians recently proposed an unusual idea to efficiently "turn off" satellite internet over a large area. They aim to use balloons for this purpose, as extensively detailed in a paper published by the Russian Siberian Federal University in Krasnoyarsk.

According to the Russians, the current methods of jamming satellite signals are ineffective and increasingly challenging with the expanding Starlink constellation. Thus, the solution is to disrupt the terminals' operation.

In practice, this could be achieved using spherical balloons as passive radio reflectors, which would reflect and evenly, omnidirectionally distribute the signal sent from below by the jammer.

The Russians claim that by using a balloon with a diameter of around 33 feet and placing it at a height of about 984 feet, a jammer with a power of about 150 W could disable Starlink within a radius of 3 miles. The entire jamming system is supposedly lightweight and compact enough to fit on a pickup truck.

It's important to note that the idea – regardless of its effectiveness – is only a proposal at this stage. Furthermore, the Russians acknowledge that a balloon would not last long in a combat environment. Thus, they propose using this solution not on the front lines but to secure the rear of the fighting units.