German commander warns Russian satellites could threaten Starlink

Germany’s Space Command chief, Maj. Gen. Michael Traut, warned that Russian military satellites’ close maneuvering around a commercial satellite supporting Ukraine demonstrates tactics that could threaten large commercial networks such as Starlink. In May 2026, four Russian spacecraft, Cosmos 2610 through 2613, approached a Finnish ICEYE radar-imaging satellite used for battlefield intelligence; ICEYE said it repositioned the spacecraft, prompting further maneuvers by the Russians. Traut said similar activity could degrade service and shorten satellites’ operating lives without a direct attack, for example by forcing collision-avoidance maneuvers, while warning that an overt strike would be a major escalation. Western officials say Russian interference in space systems has increased since the invasion of Ukraine, including signal jamming and orbital surveillance, heightening concerns about protecting commercial systems that militaries increasingly rely on.