As russia moves forward with deploying its Rassvet satellite internet constellation, developed by Bureau 1440 for military use, Ukraine faces a new question: how can such a system be countered effectively?
The most obvious answer is simply to shoot the satellites down. While that may sound like the ultimate solution, it is also one of the most difficult to implement, even though it is technically feasible.
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The Soviet Union carried out the world's first successful anti-satellite interception. Development of its Istrebitel Sputnikov ("Satellite Destroyer") program began in 1960, and on November 1, 1968, the interceptor satellite Kosmos-252 destroyed the target satellite Kosmos-248 using a fragmentation warhead.
Like many Soviet military programs, the system was massive. Development continued for another decade before it officially entered service in 1978. The interceptor satellite weighed 2.4 tonnes, carried a large propellant reserve for orbital maneuvers, and used a radar seeker for terminal guidance. It was launched aboard a Tsiklon-2 launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Intercepting a target required calculating its orbit before launch and updating the interceptor's trajectory after its first orbit around Earth. That process relied on a dedicated space surveillance network built around 5N15 Dnestr and 5N86 Dnepr early-warning radars, including the OS-1 Mishelevka site near Irkutsk and the OS-2 Sary-Shagan site in Kazakhstan.
Each site consisted of four enormous radar arrays capable of monitoring a 5,000-km surveillance zone and tracking objects at altitudes of up to 3,000 km. A single Dnestr/Dnepr complex stretched for more than 600 meters, stood 20 meters tall, and, in its upgraded configuration, featured transmitters with peak pulse power of up to 1.25 MW.
Needless to say, Ukraine has no access to infrastructure of that scale.
Moreover, the Soviet approach of compensating for limited guidance accuracy with a fragmentation warhead belonged to an era when Earth orbit was relatively uncluttered. Today, intentionally creating large amounts of orbital debris risks triggering the Kessler syndrome, in which cascading collisions render entire orbital regions unusable.
A much more technologically advanced approach appeared with the U.S. ASM-135 ASAT air-launched anti-satellite missile. Defense Express previously examined the system in detail in an article marking the 40th anniversary of the first satellite destroyed by an F-15 fighter.
By 1985, the ASM-135 ASAT already employed hit-to-kill technology instead of an explosive warhead. It featured lateral divert thrusters and a relatively simple infrared seeker cooled to −269°C, while the F-15 itself required only minimal modifications to carry and launch the weapon.
The biggest obstacle to countering modern military satellite internet systems, however, lies elsewhere.
Unlike earlier generations of military satellites, these systems do not rely on a handful of large spacecraft. They are built around large constellations designed to remain operational even if individual satellites are lost.
According to russian plans, the minimum operational Rassvet constellation will consist of 288 satellites, while the fully deployed network is expected to include 730 spacecraft.
In other words, even a technically successful anti-satellite capability would have only a limited impact against such a distributed architecture.
A far more promising approach would be to develop electronic warfare systems specifically designed to disrupt the constellation, while avoiding the shortcomings of russia's own Volna Kupol Garant project. Another effective strategy is targeting the ground infrastructure that supports the satellite network, a campaign Ukraine has, in fact, already begun.
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