Chinese spy satellite tracks Inmarsat satellites in space

An incident unfolding about 36,000 kilometers above the equator for the past several months is causing concern in Western security circles. According to reporting by WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, a Chinese satellite is said to have approached a commercial communications satellite in a suspicious manner. Germany’s military is also affected, as it relies on the infrastructure of British provider Inmarsat for worldwide data transmission. The Bundeswehr operates only a handful of its own satellites in space, as has traditionally been the case, and therefore uses private services for military data traffic.

The trail leads, according to the reports, to the Chinese satellite TJS-20, launched in October 2025. The name refers to Tongxin Jishu Shiyan, the state-run communications technology test program, which is officially intended for scientific purposes. Military and intelligence agencies in Western countries view the program as a cover for military space espionage.

The program includes several classes, including the early-warning satellites known as “Huoyan”, which monitor foreign missile bases, as well as outposts called “Qianshao”. Experts also classify TJS-20 in the latter category, seeing it as specifically designed for electronic espionage in geostationary orbit.

Military interest

French space surveillance company Aldoria, which works closely with the country’s space agency and military space command, has documented unusual maneuvers. According to the company, the Chinese satellite at times came within about 100 kilometers of the Inmarsat node. In spaceflight, that is considered an extremely short distance.

Aldoria experts say such a maneuver signals military interest and has not been observed in a comparable way by any other Western partner or NATO satellite. China is demonstrating its technological advances in space and is also targeting commercial satellite services.

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment on specific threat scenarios, citing military security and the protection of critical infrastructure. But efforts to limit the damage are underway behind the scenes, the reporting consortium said. The Bundeswehr’s Space Command is continuously monitoring the situation, but its room to maneuver in orbit is limited.

Changing frequencies does little

A few days ago, Inmarsat customers were reportedly advised to change their communications frequencies to make eavesdropping more difficult. Experts doubt that would work, however: such measures would be ineffective if the Chinese satellite could capture the entire frequency spectrum thanks to its advantageous position. British parent company Viasat has not commented on the incidents so far.

Such espionage attempts rarely target the messages themselves, since secret military and commercial data are generally transmitted with strong encryption. Instead, attackers focus on metadata, including the transmission frequencies used, the exact times of transmissions and communication patterns. This can reveal which ground stations are communicating with one another. That information is highly valuable to intelligence agencies and, in the event of war, for targeted military attacks, since enemy stations could then be taken out selectively.

Similar maneuvers by Russia have been known for years. Western security agencies in particular blame Russian satellites Luch-1 and Luch-2 for targeted espionage. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has already publicly acknowledged that Russian systems were monitoring platforms in space used by the Bundeswehr. China’s now openly demonstrating its capabilities in this area, too, underscoring how fiercely contested space has become as a strategic domain.

(mho)