• By Ajeet Kumar
  • Sat, 23 Aug 2025 10:55 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Satellite hijacking: As Russia held its Victory Day parade this year, hackers backing the Kremlin hijacked an orbiting satellite that provides television service to Ukraine. Instead of normal programming, Ukrainian viewers saw parade footage beamed in from Moscow: waves of tanks, soldiers, and weaponry. The message was meant to intimidate and was an illustration that 21st-century war is waged not just on land, sea, and air but also in cyberspace and the reaches of outer space.

What do you mean by satellite hijacking?

Satellite hacking occurs when someone gain access to satellite systems, which can lead to the disruption of data transmissions or even losing control of the satellite itself. Disabling a satellite could deal a devastating blow without one bullet, and it can be done by targeting the satellite’s security software or disrupting its ability to send or receive signals from Earth. “If you can impede a satellite’s ability to communicate, you can cause a significant disruption,” Tom Pace, CEO of NetRise, a cybersecurity firm focused on protecting supply chains told news agency The Associated Press.

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“Think about GPS,” said Pace, who served in the Marines before working on cyber issues at the Department of Energy. “Imagine if a population lost that and the confusion it would cause.”
Satellites are the short-term challenge.

How satellite hacking become a modern space warfare 

More than 12,000 operating satellites now orbit the planet, playing a critical role not just in broadcast communications but also in military operations, navigation systems like GPS, intelligence gathering and economic supply chains. They are also key to early launch-detection efforts, which can warn of approaching missiles.

That makes them a significant national security vulnerability, and a prime target for anyone looking to undermine an adversary’s economy or military readiness, or deliver a psychological blow like the hackers supporting Russia did when they hijacked television signals to Ukraine.
Hackers typically look for the weakest link in the software or hardware that supports a satellite or controls its communications with Earth. The actual orbiting device may be secure, but if it’s running on outdated software, it can be easily exploited.

What happened when Russia hijacked US-based satellte

As Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, someone targeted Viasat, the US-based satellite company used by Ukraine’s government and military. The hack, which Kyiv blamed on Moscow, used malware to infect tens of thousands of modems, creating an outage affecting wide swaths of Europe.

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National security officials say Russia is developing a nuclear, space-based weapon designed to take out virtually every satellite in low-Earth orbit at once. The weapon would combine a physical attack that would ripple outward, destroying more satellites, while the nuclear component is used to fry their electronics.

(With inputs from agency)