The US authorities has privately warned lawmakers and European allies that Russia plans to launch an area weapon with attainable nuclear capabilities, in line with a flurry of studies.

The information broke after Mike Turner, chairman of the US Home Intelligence Committee, issued a vague warning a couple of “critical nationwide safety menace” and urged US president Joe Biden to “declassify all data regarding this menace” for the aim of extra public discussions. Since then, information studies have revealed further particulars about what the Russian thriller weapon could be. Here’s what we all know to date.

Does this imply Russia goals to place nuclear missiles or bombs in area?

This stays unclear. Studies from ABC News and The New York Times use the time period “nuclear weapon”, which may imply a weapon able to producing an explosion involving nuclear fission or fusion reactions. If that is true, it will violate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which bans signatory international locations – together with Russia and the US – from putting nuclear or different weapons of mass destruction in area.

A nuclear explosion in area wouldn’t straight hurt folks on Earth, however it may destroy and disable a number of satellites. When the US detonated a nuclear bomb in low Earth orbit throughout its Starfish Prime check in 1962, the ensuing radiation broken or destroyed about one-third of satellites in low Earth orbit on the time.

However there’s one other risk that doesn’t contain nuclear weapons.

What else may Russia’s nuclear functionality in area be?

The Russian area weapon could merely use nuclear energy to offer power for its onboard methods. PBS News Hour cited US officers describing the Russian weapon as “presumably nuclear-powered”.

Each Russia and the US have used totally different types of nuclear energy in area for many years. One kind includes nuclear fission reactors, corresponding to these present in civilian nuclear crops, which draw energy from an ongoing nuclear chain response.

The US launched an experimental nuclear reactor into area in 1965, whereas Russia launched at the very least 34 nuclear reactors aboard satellites between 1967 and 1988, in line with the World Nuclear Association.

The US, Russia and different international locations have additionally launched area missions powered by radioisotope methods. These harness warmth from the pure decay of radioactive supplies as a supply of electrical energy – however they provide a lot much less energy than nuclear fission reactors.

What does this Russian area weapon truly do?

Information studies agree that the Russian weapon is designed to focus on satellites in area as a substitute of straight harming anybody or something on the bottom. Nevertheless, if the weapon is able to knocking satellites out of orbit, these objects may fall to the planet’s floor and trigger critical harm. If it blows them to items, the ensuing clouds of area particles may threaten different satellites and even the Worldwide Area Station. This would possibly even set off a Kessler syndrome situation, the place a series response of area particles cascades uncontrolled and makes it virtually inconceivable for satellites to outlive in Earth orbit.

Varied international locations – together with Russia, the US, China and India – have all beforehand examined anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons that contain launching missiles from Earth to shoot down objects in orbit. However international locations have been a lot quieter about whether or not they have truly deployed ASAT weapons in area.

What has Russia mentioned about this attainable weapon?

A spokesperson for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s authorities described the US warning as a “malicious fabrication” supposed to spur the US Congress to go a invoice authorising extra navy support for Ukraine, in line with Reuters. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US and Europe have been backing Ukraine’s navy resistance towards Russian forces.

Why would Russia desire a new anti-satellite weapon?

Satellites are essential for each navy and civilian functions which have a huge effect on fashionable life. They monitor the climate, energy GPS methods, present space-based surveillance and allow communication – for instance, SpaceX’s swarm of Starlink satellites has confirmed very important for Ukraine’s navy forces in coordinating drone and artillery strikes towards Russian forces on the battlefield.

The US officers cited by PBS Information Hour urged that the Russian area weapon has “digital warfare functionality to focus on American satellites which can be important for U.S. navy and civilian communication”.

Russia has spent years growing space-based digital warfare methods able to jamming the communications indicators to and from satellites, in line with a report by the Safe World Basis, an area safety organisation primarily based in Colorado. Victoria Samson on the Safe World Basis said that such Russian area weapons might be nuclear-powered.

So how harmful may this new anti-satellite weapon be?

The excellent news is, if this area weapon jams satellites quite than bodily destroying them, it received’t trigger catastrophic area particles situations like Kessler syndrome. Nevertheless, it may nonetheless be harmful.

An area weapon that makes use of digital warfare to jam indicators may successfully disable satellites. That would disrupt essential battlefield communications, go away GPS-guided methods inoperative, blind spy satellites and make it tougher for the US to coordinate its navy forces the world over.