Space, which we have long considered peaceful, is becoming a battlefield for information dominance. Yet even in this chaos, NASA has found a way to turn its scientific instruments into lie detectors. Satellites designed to study hurricanes and earthquakes have unexpectedly demonstrated the ability to accurately pinpoint the location of ground-based military electronic warfare (EW) systems.
The discovery, which could change the rules of the game in civil aviation and shipping, was made during an experiment. Scientists turned their attention to a mysterious source of interference near the Iranian city of Shiraz. By comparing data from days of activity and calm, researchers found that the powerful emissions of a jammer leave a clear, almost indelible trace in orbit.
Hurricanes vs. Jammers: How CYGNSS Works
The first "detector" was the CYGNSS system. This is a constellation of eight microsatellites whose primary task is weather monitoring. They capture GPS signals reflected from the ocean to calculate wind speeds at the centers of tropical cyclones.
However, when a powerful EW complex is activated on the ground, it creates a giant "blind spot" in the radio frequency spectrum. Satellites detect this drop in reflected signals from hundreds of kilometers away. During tests, the system was able to determine the coordinates of the Iranian installation with remarkable accuracy—the error was only 4.33 kilometers.
Geometry of Interference: The NISAR Method
The second tool in the scientists' arsenal is the NISAR radar. Usually, it scans the Earth's surface to record crustal movements after earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. But military radio interference is also not hidden from it.
On NISAR radar images, interference appears as clear strips perpendicular to the satellite's flight trajectory. Each such strip is a geometric indicator of the direction to the EW source. This method showed target determination accuracy with an error of 6.26 kilometers.
Combining data from both systems allowed for even greater accuracy—4.69 kilometers. This means that even without special military reconnaissance satellites, civilian scientific spacecraft can effectively monitor navigation threats.
Global Navigation Crisis
The problem of GPS jamming has long gone beyond active combat zones. Today, civilian vessels in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, as well as in the South China Sea, suffer from serious interference. The scale of the crisis is impressive: daily, about 900 flights encounter navigation failures due to the operation of military complexes.
The situation is so serious that international airlines are forced to seek alternatives to the classic GPS system, especially on transatlantic routes where signal degradation is regularly recorded.
Limitations and Prospects
Despite the success, experts emphasize: NASA satellites cannot monitor jammers in real-time. Data collection, processing, and publication take several days. Moreover, mobile EW complexes, which often change positions, remain a difficult target for them.
However, satellites see stationary objects very well. Thus, NASA data has already recorded that after the start of the conflict in the Middle East, the mysterious Iranian EW system in Shiraz increased its signal power fivefold. Scientists suggest that the military either switched to 24/7 operation mode or are trying to protect themselves from high-precision weapons guided by GPS.