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When Satellite Data Becomes a Weapon | WIRED Middle East

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As war reshapes the Gulf, the satellite infrastructure the world relies on to see conflict clearly is being delayed, spoofed and privately controlled – and nobody is sure who is responsible.

Last month, Iran’s Tehran Times posted what appeared to be damning satellite proof: a before-and-after image of “American radar,” supposedly “completely destroyed.” It wasn’t. The image was an AI-manipulated version of a year-old Google Earth shot from Bahrain–wrong location, wrong timeline, fabricated damage. Open-source intelligence researchers debunked it within hours matching it to older satellite imagery and identifying identical visual artefacts, down to cars frozen in the same positions. A small act of disinformation, quickly debunked. But it pointed to a challenge that becomes more dif

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