Tests show that Russian satellites can disrupt GPS on a global scale

In September 2025, the researchers asked for help from the public at a meeting of the Institute of Navigation in Baltimore, Maryland, according to Veritasium. A few months later, Mr. Humphreys received information about a disturbing message that was picked up by stations in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Trondheim, Norway, during a disturbing event on February 11, 2026.

By analyzing the time difference when the signal arrived at two different locations, Humphreys and Clements calculated a “quasi-hyperboloid surface” – the term they used in the paper – stretching tens of thousands of kilometers in space where the interfering satellite should be. As Veritasium reported, the margin of error represented by the thickness of the surface was only five meters.

The comparison of the trajectory of the suspected satellite with the quasi-hyperboloid field showed that only one of the satellites is in good communication – the Russian satellite. Kosmos 2546. That finding, pointed them to six Russian satellites Edinaya Kosmicheskaya Sistema (EKS), including Kosmos 2546, which are designed to provide early warning when detected missile blast.

Such satellites are in high orbit Molniya rotates spread over the longest surface of the Earth which provides long-term coverage in the northern part of the world. Research by Humphreys, Clements, and Krizise showed that there was at least one such Russian satellite above the horizon for every ground station in every GPS interference event.

Unpleasant because

There is an open question as to why the Russian satellites seem to periodically operate at a slower rate of GPS interference in Europe—mainly because the communication signal is slightly removed from the normal GPS band.

In the Veritasium video, Mr. Humphreys speculates that the Russians may have attempted to jam GPS satellites briefly at a frequency close to the GPS band. “Then in the future when there’s a heated argument, they’ll go ahead and put their machine on the GPS team, but it’s more damaging now that it’s lying on the team,” he said.