EU to boost satellite fleet to improve GPS jam detection

The European Union plans to increase the number of satellites in low Earth orbit to enhance its ability to detect GPS interference, following a recent incident involving the aircraft of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

According to Caliber.Az, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, announced the plans on X.

“Jamming and spoofing harm our air, maritime and transport economies. Our EU Galileo space project can help! We already provide an authentication service to detect spoofing. We will increase satellites in low Earth orbit for robustness, and we will enhance interference detection.”

To recall, the European Commission has confirmed that the GPS of President Ursula von der Leyen’s aeroplane was jammed during her flight to Bulgaria on August 31, an incident now suspected to be the result of Russian interference.

“We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria. We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” an EU spokesperson said, corroborating earlier media reports, Reuters reports.

The flight, en route to Plovdiv, lost GPS signal during its approach, prompting Bulgarian air traffic controllers to activate ground-based navigation protocols to ensure a secure landing.

While the Kremlin has not yet responded, the EU is taking the incident seriously amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The spokesperson said: “The EU will continue to invest in defence spending and in Europe's readiness even more after this incident.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev