US officials have expressed concern about a recent Russian satellite that they claimed may have dangerous intent on other satellites in space. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that it launched a satellite into orbit last week, said Pentagon spokesman Brig Gen Pat Ryder, adding that the satellite was possibly developed as a counter-space weapon.
“Russia successfully sent a satellite in the lower earth orbit, which assumingly is a counter-space weapon,” said Gen Ryder.
So far, the Kremlin has remained tight-lipped on the services’ decisions through the official media. Nevertheless, conflicts, such as Russia and the USA, have been unfolding as the two have recently increased the level of space militarization at the UN meetings.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said on Tuesday that America had made space a theatre of war. Military strategists have predicted space as the new war frontier due to the enhanced reliance on satellites. America recently turned space into a military battlefield.
Gen Ryder explained that the Pentagon worries that the assumed Russian satellite, Cosmos 2576, may have been designed to attack other satellites at low orbit. ”Russia placed this new counter-space weapon into the same orbit as a US government satellite,” he said. The latter reveals assessment findings similar to those of previously employed counter-space payloads in 2019 and 2022.
In this regard, the Pentagon pays particular attention to protecting the space domain to maintain constant and unhindered support for the Joint and Combined Forces. Similar sentiments were echoed by the US Space Command, speaking on behalf of the US government, asserting that the satellite is a probable counter-space weapon that may be designed to attack other satellites in low earth orbit.
According to the US Space Command, the Cosmos 2576 satellite was returned to active mode and launched on May 16 in a Plesetsk cosmodrome about 800 KM north of Moscow. However, Russia’s Roskosmos state space agency acknowledged the news but shifted the launch date to May 17, saying this was due to its defence ministry. The difference in dates could result from the fact that the time in Moscow is three hours before GMT.
Hitherto, space analysts have observed that Cosmos 2576 is in the same orbit as the American satellite USA 314. The situation can be described as rather tense, especially considering Russia’s recent statements to place sanctions on the supporting American satellites in the Ukrainian conflict. Such threats have become more apparent following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, despite political intentions.
Manufacturing a space launch vehicle involves complex procedures and indisputable technical know-how that a nation cannot easily acquire, which is why the White House expressed in February that Russia had been developing what could be described as a ‘troubling’ new space weapon. However, this has not yet been deployed in space. This came after one top Republican congressman threatened to reveal a severe national security threat in a warning that shortly set a buzz in Washington, DC.
Even last year, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, enumerated different ASAT weapons being developed by Russia.
In a similar pattern, in November 2021, a test-fired missile was used to destroy an out-of-date Soviet satellite.
