The US and its allies rely on satellites for numerous critical functions, spanning military and civilian communications, navigation (such as GPS), weather surveillance, and intelligence gathering. Reports indicating a new Russian capability to potentially disable satellites raise significant national security apprehensions for the US and its allies. The creation of an anti-satellite weapon with nuclear capabilities would signify an escalation in the enduring dispute between the two superpowers concerning the militarization of space.
Russia says it is developing “a space-based array of nondestructive and destructive counter-space weapons,” including jamming and cyberspace capabilities, directed energy weapons, and on-orbit capabilities. It is also working on ground-based ASAT weapons that could threaten the ability of US and other foreign satellites to function in orbit.
In addition, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the United States of violating a 1967 treaty that prohibits nations from placing weapons in space or on celestial bodies. Despite the ongoing tensions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, both countries continue to work together on research projects in outer space.
In February, the White House voiced concern about Russia’s reported development of a nuclear anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon capability. It warned allies that such a system could be launched in orbit. Moscow dismissed the claims as “malicious and unfounded,” adding that it did not have such systems in its arsenal.
A month later, the US and Japan put forward a draft resolution at the Security Council to call on all countries to prevent an arms race in outer space. The draft is based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which requires all states to refrain from deploying weapons of mass destruction in orbit. Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, vetoed the US-Japan proposal, saying that it “cherry-picked” which weapons should be banned and did not go far enough in banning their deployment in space.
Nebenzia circulated a rival resolution that called for preventing the placement of weapons in space. He said that the U.S.-Japan draft focused only on weapons of mass destruction, while his resolution addressed all types of weapons.
The Russian draft resolution currently has 63 other co-sponsors. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield criticized the Russian move, calling it an “unfortunate step in a dangerous direction.”
While the United States has not ruled out developing anti-satellite weapons of its own, it does not currently have any such programs under consideration. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee have cautioned that such a development could lead to a potentially disastrous arms race in space.
Arms control experts warn that such a weapon could have wide-ranging ramifications for the global economy and society, including the reliability of satellite communications systems. However, a senior administration official said the US is focused on enforcing existing norms and wants to avoid entering into new treaties.
