Within weeks of blocking a United Nations (U.N.) Security Council resolution that sought to ban nuclear weapons in outer space, Russia likely launched a weapon into low-Earth orbit capable of inspecting and attacking other satellites, keeping up with its dangerous behavior in space.
According to U.S. Space Command, the May 16 launch included COSMO 2576, a type of Russian military “inspector” spacecraft that U.S. officials say shows reckless space behavior, Reuters reported.
Days later, on May 20, the U.N. Security Council shot down a Russia-backed resolution to ban weapons in space, which was meant to rival the one backed by the United States and Japan that the Kremlin vetoed. The language presented, some members of the council argued, “was simply meant to distract the world from Russia’s true intention: weaponizing space,” AP reported.
“They show no intention of reaching an agreement with the West for the good of humanity,” Jorge Serrano, a member of the advisory team of Peru’s Congressional Intelligence Commission, told Diálogo. “It is a regrettable and dangerous position, which could unleash another source of conflict with all the implications it entails.”
“Russia has displayed dangerous nuclear rhetoric, failing to live up to its arms control obligations,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. “It avoids serious discussion of arms control or risk reduction and has backed dangerous proliferators on several occasions.”
Nuclear space weapon
On February 20, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, a statement that followed the White House confirmation that Russia had developed a concerning anti-satellite weapon capability, though not yet operational, AP reported.
According to sources familiar with U.S. intelligence concerning the weapon, Russia is trying to develop a nuclear space weapon capable of generating a massive energy wave when detonated, which could cripple satellites vital to communications on the planet, CNN reported.
This type of weapon, known by military space experts as a nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP), would generate a pulse of electromagnetic energy and highly charged particles that would disrupt other satellites in space, CNN reported.
“Although there is no solid confirmation, simple logic suggests that Russia, given its advanced nuclear capability, could develop anti-satellite weaponry, with the potential to destroy infrastructure in space such as strategic satellites, thus posing a real threat,” Serrano said.
While the military is highly dependent on satellites for surveillance, navigation at sea, communications, and weapons launches, among many other uses, civilians are also overly reliant on satellites, which are used for a wide variety of everyday functions. From GPS for ride and food delivery services to weather forecasting, precision agriculture and financial transactions, satellites are integral to daily lives, the BBC reported.
Russia and China have been rapidly deploying satellites into orbit with new and at times unknown capabilities that can disable, degrade, or disrupt other nation’s spacecraft, U.S.-based magazine Space reported, adding that Chinese satellites were observed dragging other spacecraft into “graveyard orbits.”
Addressing Russia’s veto of the U.N. resolution to ban nuclear weapons in outer space, Serrano stressed that while the focus was on Russia, China’s decision to abstain from voting highlighted the alliance between both countries. “This alliance extends to other countries, such as Iran, North Korea, Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, forming a significant geopolitical axis,” Serrano said, adding, “Russia is not alone.”
