Side event on the margins of the UNGA First Committee "Low orbit satellite internet systems in the context of international peace and security: challenges and threats" hosted by Russian Permanent Mission to the UN, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN and Permanent Mission of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UN.
Rapid technological advancement and unconstrained expansion of Low Earth orbit satellite Internet communications systems (LEO satellites) have led to the emergence of new challenges in the field of international peace and security. It is worth noting that LEO satellites have been used outside of their declared "availability maps", providing Internet access in circumvention of national laws and regulatory authorities. This has paved the way for malign activities against individual UN Member States aimed at interfering in their internal affairs and fueling socio-political destabilization from abroad. At the same time, recent armed conflicts have shown how this dual-use technology can be weaponized. LEO satellites have been leveraged to gather intelligence on sovereign territories, coordinate military operations, program precision strikes and organize terrorist attacks. Given the ever-growing number of these systems and the lack of effective international framework to control them, UN Member States will see their national security increasingly compromised. This issue, which is currently on the radar of the International Telecommunication Union, has been incorporated into the agenda of the World Radiocommunication Conference 2027, but concrete measures are yet to be defined.Objectives:The side event will represent an opportunity to discuss the treats arising from malicious use of LEO satellites and identify possible ways to address them.
