The head of Germany’s Space Forces, Major General Michael Traut, said that if a Russian nuclear weapon were to explode in orbit, it could permanently destroy “the global commons.”
Speaking at an event on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday night, Trout said he had no answer for U.S. intelligence reports that Russia was developing anti-satellite weapons with nuclear components in space. “I have more questions than I do,” he said. Trout detailed the consequences of the worst-case scenario.
“If someone tried to detonate a nuclear weapon in the upper atmosphere or in outer space, that would more or less end the availability of that global commons.” [of orbit]Mr. Trout said, according to Politico, describing the devastating effects of an indiscriminate nuclear explosion in space that would emit a satellite-launched electromagnetic pulse that would cross low Earth orbit.
Trout added: “No one would survive such a battle. There are no Chinese, Russian, American or European satellites.” “If anyone did the math rationally, no one would ever use such a weapon in space.”
US launches missile detection satellite into orbit amid growing concerns about Russia in space
The first Russian mission to the International Space Station in 2024 carried 2.5 tons of supplies to the outpost aboard the Progress MS-26 spacecraft, which launched on Thursday, February 15, 2024. (Roscosmos State Space Corporation, via AP)
Ludwig Möller, director of the European Space Policy Institute, predicted that if Russia were to successfully shoot down a commercial satellite, it would cost banks and the energy sector trillions of dollars in economic losses. According to Politico, China and India are also rapidly developing space technology, while Russia is engaged in military aerospace deals with sanctioned countries Iran and North Korea amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have opened Space Commands over the past few years to create a reliable defense of government and commercial infrastructure in orbit. By signing the National Defense Authorization Act into law in December 2019, former President Trump created the U.S. Space Force, the first new military force since 1947.
Despite new information from the United States that Russia is developing some sort of anti-satellite nuclear weapon, White House adviser John Kirby denied there was an imminent threat.
White House says Russian technology will not be used to attack humanity or cause physical destruction to Earth
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius speaks at the Munich Security Conference at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel on Saturday, February 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schroeder)
“While it is concerning that Russia is pursuing this particular capability, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety,” Kirby said Thursday. “We are not talking about weapons that can be used to attack humans or cause physical destruction on Earth.”
In this photo released by Roscosmos State Space Company, Russia’s Soyuz 2.1a and Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft take off from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, February 15, 2024. Ta. (Roscosmos State Space Corporation, via AP)
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, issued a puzzling but alarming statement on February 14 regarding intelligence on Russian activity, calling it a “critical national security threat.” It called on President Biden to declassify the information, calling it a “threat.” that.
Some sources suggested it was a nuclear weapon. Although it is not a nuclear warhead, some suspect it is a nuclear-powered weapon.
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The White House acknowledged the next day that the Russian system it is developing is a space-based anti-satellite weapon that, if deployed, would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans weapons of mass destruction in space. The Kremlin responded by dismissing the report as a “malicious fabrication.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
