Anatomy of a Satellite Interference Incident
The six-phase lifecycle of a satellite interference incident—from anomaly detection through post-incident learning—and how to standardize your team's response.
This article is part of our Satellite Spectrum Interference & Congestion: Operator Field Guide
The Incident Lifecycle
Most interference incidents—whether ASI, 5G, cross-pol, or unknown uplink—follow a similar six-phase lifecycle. Standardizing this pattern means the next event is faster, cheaper, and less chaotic than the last.
1. Anomaly detected — NOC sees raised alarms: lower C/N, dropped sessions, throughput collapse. Customers complain: "service is choppy" or "video is freezing."
2. Initial triage — Is it one site or many? Does it correlate with weather, maintenance, or network changes? Does spectrum show new energy or just weaker carriers?
3. Classification — Downlink versus uplink. Continuous versus intermittent. Local to one site versus wide-area.
4. Investigation and escalation — Walk through scenario-specific SOPs: ASI, cross-pol, uplink overpower, 5G/radar/aircraft, unknown third-party uplink. Loop in satellite operator, regulators, or terrestrial neighbors as needed.
5. Mitigation and recovery — Tactical fixes: power adjustments, re-pointing, filters, carrier moves, temporary rerouting. Long-term fixes: installation standards, site moves, new filtering, or network design changes.
6. Post-incident learning — Document the pattern and what worked. Fold the scenario into runbooks and training.
What to Measure
Track time-to-detect (TTD) and time-to-resolve (TTR) for interference-related tickets. Count the mystery RF events that end without a clear root cause. Monitor the recurrence rate of the same scenario type—repeated ASI on one beam, repeated 5G issues at one teleport. These metrics tell you whether your process is improving or if the same gaps keep reopening.
Most Interference Is Preventable
The largest pool of preventable interference comes from ground-segment issues: small, poorly installed dishes picking up multiple satellites, cross-pol from incorrect feed rotation, and uplink overpower from misconfigured PAs. Intentional jamming exists in some contexts, but for commercial operators, human error and coordination gaps are the dominant causes. The goal is not a perfectly interference-free environment but a well-managed one with early detection, fast diagnosis, and coordinated repeatable mitigation.