British military forces have spent the past year using a ground-based system capable of jamming or blocking satellites belonging to other states.
This was reported by BBC citing a source within the British defence establishment. The system is already operational and has been used to deter potential adversaries.
The technology has become part of the United Kingdom’s new approach to conducting operations in space. On 23 September 2026, the Royal Air Force established No. III Space Effects Squadron — the first British unit specifically designed for actively countering hostile space systems.
The new squadron is tasked to disrupt, degrade and deny — disrupting, degrading, or completely denying adversaries the ability to use space systems. Electronic warfare has been named as the primary focus.
One application of the ground-based system involves blocking the channel through which a satellite transmits collected intelligence data to a ground station. In such a scenario, the spacecraft itself remains in orbit and may continue to function, but the adversary receives some or none of the data it has gathered.
The British system could potentially be used against satellites tracking the movements of British nuclear submarines or monitoring other sensitive military operations.
According to the information available, the British side concluded that physically destroying a satellite with a missile generates large quantities of debris that remain in orbit and can pose a hazard to other spacecraft.
For this reason, the British are betting on non-kinetic countermeasures. These allow them to temporarily or selectively deny an adversary the use of a satellite without creating new space debris.
