Space is increasingly becoming a contested domain, where satellites play both a critical role and present major vulnerabilities. A recent case involved hackers taking control of a Ukrainian TV satellite to broadcast Russian propaganda, illustrating how cyber operations can weaponize orbital assets. With more than 12,000 satellites in orbit supporting communications, navigation, surveillance, and defense, attackers have a wide surface to exploit through outdated software, insecure links, or weak hardware protections. At the same time, nations are exploring far more destructive possibilities, including reports that Russia is developing a nuclear space weapon capable of disabling most low-Earth orbit satellites, which would break existing treaties and cause global disruption.

This competition for control of space is part of a larger struggle among the United States, Russia, and China to establish supremacy in orbital and lunar domains, extend influence into asteroid mining, and secure new energy sources. The United States is strengthening its defenses through the Space Force, improved planning, and expanded international cooperation. However, growing militarization, treaty gaps, and the blurred line between commercial and military space use make the domain unstable. The article frames space as the next battlefield, where both cyber intrusions and physical weapons could decide strategic advantage in the 21st century.

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Source: https://www.securityweek.com/hijacked-satellites-and-orbiting-space-weapons-in-the-21st-century-space-is-the-new-battlefield/