ANALYSIS – This is how it begins – by blinding us. Could a space nuke be next? Last week, Russia launched its previously expected satellite-killer space weapon, and the Pentagon says the enemy bird is already tracking a U.S. spy satellite in the “same low Earth orbit.”
The unprecedented counter-space weapon “Cosmos 2576” was launched May 16 on a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome, 500 miles north of Moscow. The Russian spacecraft was closely tracked by the North American Aerospace Defense Command as well as the U.S. Northern Command.
A Russian source claimed the launch included a “secret military device.” American experts are concerned that this or similar space weapon could wreak havoc on global satellite communications, including SpaceX's Starlink constellation, space-based surveillance and military command-and control operations if used as a prelude to a conflict.
There are roughly 6,700 American civilian and government satellites operating in this part of space, by far the most of any country. China has about 780 satellites there, while Russia has only 149. Low Earth orbit (LEO) is generally defined as space with an altitude of no more than about 1,200 miles above the Earth.
Currently, the U.S. does not have the means to counter such a weapon or defend its satellites from an attack of this type.
The suspected Russian space weapon has already been placed in the same orbit as the American satellite USA 314, operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) which manages U.S. spy satellites. It is tracking the American bird but reportedly following it at a faster speed, meaning it will soon catch up to the NRO satellite.
Following the recent launch, The Sun reported:
Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder said last night: “Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter space weapon.
“It was deployed into the same orbit as a US government satellite and assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter space payloads from 2019 and 2022.”
“We will continue to monitor the situation … we have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the space domain and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the joint and combined force.”
Russia's Roskosmos state space agency said the launch was “in the interests of the defence ministry of the Russian Federation”.
Meanwhile, this latest Russian launch is raising even greater concerns that Vladimir Putin may deploy a nuclear armed satellite-killer into space. Commercial satellites that the Pentagon is increasingly relying on would be particularly vulnerable as they are not typically shield against a nuke explosion.
As Vox reported:
A number of statements from US officials over the past three months have been raising ominous warnings about a Russian plan to put an alarming new weapon into space. As a Department of Defense spokesperson put it to Vox directly in a conversation last week, “The United States assesses that Russia is developing a new satellite carrying a nuclear device.”
If there's any good news in this scenario, it's that such a device would not be intended to kill people on the ground, but to destroy satellites in orbit.
Don't get too relaxed, though: The Pentagon spokesperson stressed that a nuclear detonation in space would be “catastrophic” and “pose a threat to the thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the globe, as well as to the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend upon.” It would also mark a major step toward the militarization of space and potentially a new and even more dangerous era of nuclear brinkmanship.
The Pentagon's space policy leader, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb recently said that a Russian space nuke detonated “at the right magnitude in the right location” could render low Earth orbit unusable for up to a year, at least.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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