The officials told New York Times that the satellite, currently in a high-radiation graveyard orbit, may be carrying a dummy warhead and testing components for a device that could destroy numerous satellites.
Cosmos 2553 was launched 19 days before President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The satellite orbits Earth every two hours in an area rarely used due to high radiation. Russia’s ministry of defense said that the spacecraft was “equipped with newly developed onboard instruments and systems for testing them under conditions of exposure to radiation and heavy charged particles.” However, U.S. officials suspect it’s a precursor to a ‘unprecedented weapon’ capable of obliterating hundreds or thousands of crucial satellites.
Satellites are integral to daily life, supporting activities from financial transactions to weather forecasting. Hence a nuclear detonation in space would be devastating, with significant repercussions for life on Earth. If deployed, such a weapon could enable Moscow to obliterate hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit with a single nuclear blast. The resulting aftermath could severely disrupt or even dismantle global economic and communication systems for years, making certain orbital zones perilous or entirely unusable due to the accumulation of space debris. In practical terms, this could lead to the loss of internet connectivity and render the smartphone in your hand nonfunctional.
The U.S. conducted high-altitude nuclear tests during the Cold War, demonstrating potential widespread electronic disruption from such an event.“Our position is clear and transparent: We have always been categorically against and are now against the placement of nuclear weapons in space,” Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier said, dismissing the allegations.Notably, there is an international agreements against space weaponisation. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 prohibits deploying weapons of mass destruction in orbit, but recent actions by Russia, including vetoing a U.N. resolution reaffirming the treaty, have raised doubts.
