Russia is said to be working on a device that attacks US satellites. Maybe the news is just a PR stunt, but such operations are technically possible. Putin could particularly use some kind of killer satellite.
Russia is said to have developed a new type of space weapon. According to US information, it is said to be an anti-satellite, i.e. a satellite that can attack other satellites. At least that’s what Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, suggested. The US secret services are said to have had this information for some time, but it is not said to be an immediate threat – in other words, the weapon is not yet in service. There was talk of a nuclear weapon in the media. Putin’s anti-satellite is said to be nuclear powered, but that doesn’t make it a nuclear weapon.
Not peaceful space
Why is an anti-satellite so dangerous? Because space is teeming with so-called second-order weapons. The major powers have agreed not to station any weapons in space. However, they have agreed to only understand this as “weapons” in a very narrow sense. The communications and reconnaissance part of a military system is not considered a weapon here. If this logic were applied to an air defense system like the Patriot, only the missiles and their launchers would be “weapons”, but the communications systems and radar would not.
In a broader sense, numerous installations in space are “weaponized”, In addition to purely military communications and spy satellites, there are also actual civilian facilities such as Starlink. Communication and target data coordination of the Ukrainian armed forces run via Musk’s satellites. Civil and military communication is not possible without the network of satellites; the location of cars and rockets depends on them. Satellites and their reconnaissance capabilities on the ground are essential to modern wars. Precise ranged weapons require highly precise information. The peaceful sky isso “weaponized” (in the broader sense), that the actual weapons don’t work without help from above.
Defenseless in space
The great importance of military space architecture stands in stark contrast to its vulnerability. As long as a confrontation between the major military powers was unlikely, this made little difference. Poorly armed groups like the Taliban did not even have anti-aircraft missiles and near-Earth space was inaccessible to them. Only countries with a space program have access to the exclusive club.
No satellite is equipped with defensive measures. There is no armor, no ability to do quick evasive maneuvers, or mini-missiles that could shoot down an attacker. Due to the high speeds in space, a handful of steel balls would shred any satellite if they hit it in the right orbit.
An attacker would supposedly have an easy time of it. But exactly how Putin’s satellite is supposed to work and whether it actually exists is currently completely unclear.
How likely is the project?
There are several perspectives. The first possibility: It’s a pure PR stunt to get aid money for Ukraine through the House of Representatives. That would mean: There is no current threat at all. Perhaps some futuristic plan from Moscow would then be presented as a reference. For example the space tug “Zeus”, which was shown as a rendering in 2021. Zeus is said to deploy and deploy satellites. The whole project is reminiscent of old James Bond films and would only be realized in the distant future – if at all.
Great destruction
But there are also other variants that may be closer to reality. There is a paradox here: the more sensitive the anti-satellite is, the more dangerous it becomes. More brutal variants would simply attack the US satellites, whether with steel balls, laser beams, small missiles or a directed electromagnetic pulse (EMP). In the worst and most unlikely scenario, the anti-satellite would be a special form of nuclear bomb. Their explosion would release a powerful EMP, this strike would then destroy the enemy’s electronics on the ground and in space.
If you dig deep enough into the history of nuclear deterrence, there are even worse horror ideas that could be launched into space via satellite. Like a bomb that immediately sets the atmosphere on fire.
Big impact
Another approach would be far more threatening: what if the Russians managed to send a jammer into orbit. A device that leaves the US satellites unmolested but paralyzes their communication? In the strictest sense, this jammer would not be a weapon – just like spy satellites. It would not constitute aggression in the formal sense and would still render the US satellites useless.
The West has long made no secret of the fact that the USA is supporting Kiev with reconnaissance data in the war against Russia. This is considered help below the threshold of direct participation in the war. Many strikes deep behind the front would not be possible without this data. If the Russians can turn off the light on the US satellites, it would be a really serious blow for Kiev and the entire West.
The “Space Treaty” by no means bans all weapons in space. Article IV simply states: All contracting states undertake “not to place objects carrying nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction into orbit around the Earth and neither to equip celestial bodies with such weapons nor to station such weapons in outer space.” Below the threshold of weapons of mass destruction and atomic bombs, everything is permitted, including an anti-satellite.
Worthwhile goals
Electronic warfare (EW – electronic warfare) is hardly noticed by the general public. Compared to jets and tanks, the devices are inconspicuous. Their performance is hidden; for the layperson, all that can be seen is a container filled with computers. The Ukraine war shows how important EW has become. There are countless reports about how deadly small drones are – very few address the role EW plays in drone warfare. If one side manages to disrupt the other side’s drones, they will literally disappear from the sky and their own combat drones will have free rein. Another bitter truth: “Backward” Russia is often ahead in this high-tech war, and Ukraine – along with its Western supporters – is left behind.
The time when the military-civilian satellite landscape can work safely is coming to an end anyway. More and more countries are getting into missile technology, including North Korea. For them, the idea of fighting the US satellites with relatively little effort is tempting. This would be an opportunity to reduce the USA’s high-tech military potential to the level of the Cold War.