Iran’s Space Capabilities Are Growing, With U.S. Forces Facing ‘Jamming’ In Strait of Hormuz: Report

Iran's growing capabilities in space were highlighted in a Pentagon report that warned it could create strategic problems for the U.S.

The report, Challenges to Security in Space, zeroed in on how some of those capabilities have been used against U.S. forces during the Iran war.

"In June 2026, multiple organizations reported jamming near the Strait of Hormuz that disrupted U.S. aircraft and shipping vessels," the report stated. "In 2026, with the onset of Operation EPIC FURY, the U.S. and Iran took offensive actions against each others' space capabilities to degrade and disrupt military actions on both sides."

These incidents happened after April comments by Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, about the U.S. securing space superiority: "Our Space Force has given us the ultimate high ground, delivering space superiority, which has been a critical enabler to this fight."

The report stated that, since 2010, state-owned Iran Electronics Industries marketed various GPS jammers. Iran also uses several land-based GPS jamming systems, such as the Nazir, Fajr-3, and Zolfaqar to disrupt communications and navigations systems.

The report also highlighted the capabilities of Russia, China, and North Korea. According to the report, the four countries are providing technology and support to each other to bolster their space capabilities.

"China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are developing, testing, deploying, and using space capabilities in a way that threatens the security of all space systems and their associated space benefits," the report states.

Lt. General Gregory Gagnon told the Wall Street Journal in October that dominating the electromagnetic spectrum was a key component of modern warfare.

"If we can dominate the spectrum, we can keep our systems, our satellites, our ships, our planes all connected and working most effectively, but we can also disrupt the adversary's ability to do it," he told the newspaper.

The U.S. Space Force also showed some of its capabilities to the Wall Street Journal, highlighting how electromagnetic weapons were deployed during U.S. operations in Venezuela and Iran. One offensive system disrupts enemy satellites' ability to create a protective bubble around U.S. forces, and one defensive system that is meant to protect U.S. space assets from disruption.