It is also widely believed that only sophisticated states or groups will be able to mount attacks on global communications, particularly against the space nodes. In fact, this is not true. Consider an incident in 1996 between the states of Tonga and Indonesia -- neither highly developed technologically. Both states had claimed a GEO satellite communications slot. When Tonga moved its national communications satellite into this disputed spot, Indonesia protested. However, it appears that Indonesia did more than just protest, for Tongan soon began having difficulties in using their satellite; apparently it was being jammed. Although it is now widely accepted that Indonesia was deliberately interfering with the Tongan satellite, it took considerable time before any clear idea of what was happening emerged. The lesson here is not that a satellite can be jammed, but that relatively undeveloped nations have both the will and the means to interfere with an-other state's space-based infrastructure. Add to this the will and determination of not only nation-states, but also nonstate actors such as terrorist groups, and the spectrum of threats becomes very wide indeed.

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Shaw, John E. and Simon P. Worden. Whither Space Power?: Forging a Strategy for the New Century. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University, 2002. [ 8 quotes ] [ page 91 ]