Russia may have launched a satellite that is capable of inspecting and attacking other space probes, US officials claimed.
The Soyuz rocket was launched from Plesetsk on May 16 with a low-Earth orbit on at least nine satellites – including the COSMOS 2576, an “inspector” spacecraft that stateside authorities previously slammed for displaying poor space behavior, the US Space Command announced.
“We have observed nominal activity and assess it is likely a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low-Earth orbit,” a USSPACECOM spokesperson said in a statement.
“Russia deployed this new counterspace weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” the statement warned.
As of Tuesday, COSMOS 2576 had not gone near a US satellite, but space analysts said it was in the same orbital ring as USA 314, which was launched in April 2021.
The Kremlin, however, dismissed the claim as “fake news” on Wednesday.
“The Americans can say whatever they want but our policy does not change from this,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov scoffed
Moscow had “always consistently opposed the deployment of strike weapons in low-Earth orbit,” Ryabkov insisted.
The Russian defense ministry confirmed there was a space launch last week, but did not provide any details about its purpose.
In February, President Vladimir Putin and then-defense minister Sergei Shoigu denied US claims that Russia was working on a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon.
The deployment of nuclear weapons in space would be aimed at disrupting enemy communications, as well as key scientific and military resources, current and former officials suggested at the time.
The suggestion also came just as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner(R-Ohio) made a cryptic comment about a “serious national security threat.”
In recent weeks, the US and Russia clashed over the topic of space weapons at the United Nations – with both powers accusing the other of trying to militarize space, the BBC noted.
“We have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend, the domain, the space domain, and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the Joint and Combined Force,” Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder said Tuesday evening.
With Post wires
