The Orbital Lifeline: Starlink Battles Military-Grade Jamming in Iran

The Orbital Lifeline: Starlink Battles Military-Grade Jamming in Iran, published on 15 January 2026, reports that Iran has effectively severed most of its connections to the global internet, with only a negligible minority of government agencies retaining international access. According to the article, Iran employs military-grade jamming to disrupt radio frequencies, causing packet loss rates to surge between 30% and 80% before Starlink’s defences began to take effect.

NasNet, an organisation facilitating Starlink access for Iranian users, says collaboration with Starlink’s engineering team has reduced packet loss to approximately 10%, though the situation remains a “cat-and-mouse” game and network stability is volatile. The piece also notes that Iran has conducted physical raids in regions such as western Tehran to confiscate Starlink hardware, with the efficacy of those operations undetermined.

In response, Starlink has started providing its internet services in Iran free of charge, while NasNet advises users to conceal their equipment and obfuscate wireless network identifiers to evade detection.