As of: February 15, 2024, 10:34 a.m
By: Rebecca Rohrich
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Putin is said to be working on nuclear space weapons.
Republican Mike Turner is causing a stir with this report.
But could there be something completely different behind it?
© IMAGO/Ales Utouka
Putin is said to be working on nuclear space weapons.
Republican Mike Turner is causing a stir with this report.
But could there be something completely different behind it?
Washington - It feels like the news is coming thick and fast: First the designated US presidential candidate Donald Trump announces that he would more or less terminate the NATO alliance as US President, then Mike Turner, Republican and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, comes with another terrible report Around the corner: Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to be working on a nuclear space weapon that will primarily target satellites.
But there may be more to Turner's appeal than concern about a real threat.
The threat of nuclear space weapons is not new
Turner's move at least allows one to consider whether this is not an attempt to cleverly increase the pressure on the House of Representatives to finally release the millions in aid to Ukraine.
Because Turner is one of the few Republicans who are in favor of aid to Ukraine.
And there were initially no concrete details about the Russian nuclear armament in space.
Another US official told CNN that it was not clear how advanced Russian technology had become.
All that is known is that it is a weapon that cannot be used to attack people.
So far, so vague.
Because this is not news.
Russia, the USA and China have been researching such technology for decades.
Nuclear space weapons have always been the target: space satellites are part of the critical infrastructure
Since more and more space satellites control civil and military communication and navigation on Earth, space has become part of the Earth's critical infrastructure.
Almost half of the approximately 1,600 satellites orbiting the earth belong to the USA.
During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union had conducted extensive research and development into space-based nuclear weapons as part of their strategic deterrence efforts.
These weapons, often referred to as “space nuclear weapons,” include concepts such as nuclear-armed satellites, orbiting weapons platforms, and anti-satellite weapons (ASAT).
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 bans nuclear space weapons in Earth orbit
The idea behind these weapons is to gain a strategic advantage by being able to attack targets from space, including enemy satellites or ground-based facilities.
However, the use of such weapons has been severely restricted by international treaties and agreements, such as the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which prohibited the placement of weapons of mass destruction in Earth orbit.
Officially, today's satellites essentially have passive functions and are therefore not designed to destroy enemy satellites in the event of a conflict.
ASAT weapons caused a major alarm on the ISS
Despite these contracts, incidents involving ASAT weapons have occurred.
It was only in November 2022 that the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) suddenly had to flee to safety in their spacecraft because a fresh cloud of space debris threatened to collide with the ISS.
A little later it turned out that it was debris from a destroyed satellite that had caused distress to the astronauts.
According to the US State Department, the satellite was the test target for Vladimir Putin's anti-satellite weapons.
“While we knew Russia was conducting these tests, we were shocked by the scope in which they did it,” Kaitlyn Johnson, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, told National Geopraphic reported.
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Research into military technology aimed at critical infrastructure beyond Earth is by no means a new discovery and has by no means come to a standstill since the end of the Cold War.
The threat has not just been real since Wednesday, but has always been real.
However, Turner's initiative will in no way harm the cause of providing Ukraine with urgently needed military aid.