Image source, Roscosmos (via Reuters)
- author, Yaroslav Lukiv
- role, BBC News
The United States said Russia launched a satellite last week that it believes could potentially attack other similar spacecraft.
“Russia has launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we believe is likely an anti-space weapon,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said Tuesday night.
He said the satellite was in “the same orbit” as a U.S. government satellite, adding that Washington must continue to monitor the situation and be prepared to protect its interests.
Russia has not publicly commented on the issue.
Global rivals Russia and the United States have clashed repeatedly at the United Nations in recent weeks over space weapons issues, with each side accusing the other of seeking to militarize space.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that the United States is trying to turn space into a “field of military confrontation.”
Many military experts have long warned that space is likely to become the next frontier of warfare in a world increasingly dependent on technology.
Gen. Ryder said Tuesday that the Pentagon believes Russian satellites “have the potential to attack other satellites in low Earth orbit.”
“Russia has deployed this new anti-space weapon in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite.
“And the assessment further indicates characteristics similar to counter-space payloads previously deployed in 2019 and 2022.
“We have a responsibility to ensure readiness to protect and defend our domain, our space domain, and to ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to our joint and coalition forces,” the Pentagon spokesman added.
Separately, a spokesman for the US Space Command told Reuters the satellite was “likely to be a counter-space weapon capable of attacking other satellites, possibly in low Earth orbit.”
The Kosmos 2576 satellite was launched on May 16 from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome, about 800 kilometers north of Moscow, a spokesperson said.
Russia’s Roscosmos Oblast Space Agency said in a statement that the May 17 launch was “in the interest of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.” It was announced that the company’s Soyuz 2.1b launch vehicle was used.
The different reported launch dates may be explained by the fact that Moscow’s time zone is three hours ahead of GMT.
Neither Moscow nor Washington provided further details.
But space analysts say Cosmos 2576 appears to be in the same orbit as the American satellite USA 314.
Since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has warned that U.S. satellites supporting the Ukrainian military could become legitimate targets.
The White House acknowledged in February that Russia was developing a “troubling” new space weapon, but insisted it had not yet deployed it.
This came after a senior Republican lawmaker issued a cryptic warning about a serious national security threat, sparking intense rumors around Washington, D.C.
A report released last year by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said Russia has launched a series of anti-satellite missiles, including missiles that have successfully tested against decommissioned Soviet-era satellites in November 2021. (ASAT) suggested that they were developing weapons.
