The Pentagon reported this Tuesday that Russia launched an orbital missile capable of damaging satellite infrastructure. According to a Department of Defense (DOD) spokesperson, Russia launched this missile last week, and it could be a danger to U.S. satellites.
"Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we assess is likely a counter space weapon," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier Pat Ryder said Tuesday night in statements reported by the BBC.
Next, General Ryder assured that the United States is cautiously monitoring the situation with the aim of protecting American interests. General Ryder's statement confirmed what Robert Wood, a member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N., claimed in New York last Monday. According to Ryder, "assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter space payloads, from 2019 and 2022."
At the end of 2019, Russia launched a satellite containing a second satellite device, like a Matryoshka doll, into orbit. Both devices later pursued the American satellite owned by the National Reconnaissance Office. Several months later, U.S. officials said the subsatellite had released a third object that fired a projectile at high speed.
In 2021, Russia also tested a direct-ascent anti-satellite missile on one of its own spacecraft, destroying it and creating a massive debris field in its wake. Earlier this year, then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John F. Plumb made known his concerns about a Russian military development program with nuclear capabilities in space.
Russia has yet to comment about this satellite missile. However, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, did make statements last Tuesday in which she accused the United States of wanting to militarize space.
The United States reiterated before the United Nations the need to develop measures to prevent the development of nuclear space weapons. American Ambassador Robert Wood gave a speech to the U.N. Security Council in which he accused Russia of fighting against these efforts for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in space.
Prior to this speech, Russia vetoed a resolution in the Security Council to prohibit this type of weapons development. "We have heard President Putin say publicly that Russia has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space. If that were the case, Russia would not have vetoed this resolution," Wood said this week.
