Musk knows about a new effective complex against Starlink, expert said

Brief retelling from RIA II

SpaceX founder Elon Musk is aware of the Russian Volna-Dome-Garant complex, which is capable of disrupting the operation of Starlink satellites, said Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer of the Central Design Bureau.

The Volna-Dome-Garant complex affects Starlink satellites flying over its coverage area, causing them to stop receiving signals from terminals within the system’s operating radius.

Starlink is not officially designed to operate in Russia, but modified terminals can transmit false location data to the system in order to gain access to communications.

MOSCOW, October 13 - RIA Novosti. SpaceX founder Elon Musk knows about the Russian Volna-Dome-Garant complex, which is capable of disrupting the operation of Starlink satellites, Dmitry Kuzyakin, chief designer of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CDSS), told RIA Novosti.

“The Volna-Dome-Garant complex is working, we do not disclose technical characteristics. Now this system poses a serious problem for Starlink. Elon Musk is aware that effective means have emerged that disrupt the operation of the satellite system,” Kuzyakin said.

According to him, the complex does not directly suppress the communication channel between the terminal and the satellite, but affects Starlink satellites flying over its operating area.

“Satellites are constantly moving, so the system needs to understand which device is located above its coverage area at a particular moment, and accompany it with a directed radio signal. As a result, the satellite stops receiving signals from terminals that are within the operating radius of the complex,” Kuzyakin explained.

He added that the technology of targeted influence on satellite systems is not new and, according to him, similar principles were used back in Soviet times.

Kuzyakin also noted that Starlink is not officially intended to operate in Russia, however, according to him, modified terminals can transmit false data about their location to the system and thus gain access to communications.

“If a terminal reports that it is in another region of the world, although it actually operates on Russian territory, the satellite still knows its own location. In my opinion, in such a situation, the system could deny service to the terminal. We recently witnessed the interception of a Ukrainian balloon with a Starlink terminal, which was carrying a drone and operating over our territory,” Kuzyakin said.

According to the expert, the possibility of using such terminals by the enemy makes it necessary to use Russian means of countering satellite communications.