Until recently, it seemed that satellite internet was the last resort in a crisis situation. Whenever anything happens: from natural disasters to the actions of dictatorships: satellites are still orbiting overhead, ready to take over Internet traffic and provide us with the information we are entitled to. Iran has just shown that it can be blocked as well. For the first time in history, the state used military jammers to cut off access to Starlink. And it did it effectively. There are many indications that the Iranian regime used equipment from the Chinese.
Starlink was seen as a technology capable of bypassing state control. There were no cables and infrastructure based on equipment in space was supposed to be resistant to interference. In Iran, this myth has just fallen apart. According to data monitored by independent organizations, approximately 30% of satellite traffic was initially disrupted. Within hours, the level rose to over 80%.
Military signal jammers were used, including those directed against GPS. Without precise synchronization and location, the Starlink terminal becomes unusable or extremely unstable. During previous blackouts in Iran, Starlink functioned intermittently, often illegally, but well enough to maintain communication. This time the scale and precision of the activities were completely different.
GPS as a bottleneck
However, Starlink has certain “requirements” regarding working conditions. User terminals need to know where they are, which satellite they are connecting to and at what time. For this you need a GPS system. Iran has been investing in its disruption for months — especially after last year’s conflict with Israel, when signal interference began to become common outside the context of the Internet.
Instead of one full blackout, a mosaic was created. In some districts the connection works only partially, in others it disappears almost completely. Packet data confirms reports from the field: satellite Internet has become unpredictable and therefore of little use in crisis situations. Pages load slowly or not at all. This does not in any way ensure connection continuity. This is an important lesson for all of us. Even a system designed to be censorship-resistant has its vulnerable points. Just hit the GPS to disrupt access to Starlink.
Internet as an expensive luxury
NetBlocks reports that the Iranian blackout has now exceeded 60 hours, and domestic connectivity has dropped to about 1% of normal levels. This is almost complete digital silence. The economic consequences are brutal: according to estimates, each hour without the Internet in this country means a loss of $1.56 million to the economy.
Such numbers would normally stop any government in its tracks. But… this is not a normal government, but an open dictatorship. An extremely blunt tool was used, incredibly expensive (in terms of consequences, not only infrastructure), but also incredibly effective. Access to the Internet has become an element of a “carrot and stick” game for such authorities. The Iranian regime took a stick and smashed carrots into pulp.
Starlink illegal but massive
Most interestingly, Starlink has never been legalized in Iran. Owning a terminal is formally prohibited, and yet, according to various sources, tens of thousands of receivers operated in the country. The solution’s popularity has increased significantly due to previous situation escalations and blackouts. And that is why the authorities’ reaction was so decisive. The regime could not afford communication between groups of protesters: in order to maintain the legitimacy of the existing system.
Events in Iran change the way we think about Starlink’s resilience. Satellite Internet still has plenty of advantages in this context – it is quick to launch, independent of local infrastructure, and more difficult to completely shut down. But there is no magic here and no 100% protection against the actions of the authorities.
Read also: Problems in orbit. SpaceX must move Starlinks
If a state is ready to use military electronic warfare means against its citizens, even orbit does not guarantee freedom of communication. This does not mean the end of Starlink or similar systems: whatever it is, it is not. Rather, it means the beginning of a new stage. It will be a race between providers of such “non-standard Internet access” and power centers to increase the resilience of access to the Internet or combat it. “Interesting times” are ahead of us. Eh.
