Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, on Tuesday, confirmed that the US assessed an object supposed to be a counter-space weapon that Russia launched the previous week that currently shares its orbit with a U.S. government satellite.
“What I’m tracking here is on May 16, as you highlighted, Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we that we assess is likely a counter space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit,” said Ryder on a statement made public on Tuesday by the Deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Wood.
“Russia deployed this new counter-space weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite, and so assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter-space payloads from 2019 and 2022,” explained the spokesman.
Apart from assuring continued monitoring of the weapon, Ryder also highlighted the Pentagon’s readiness to protect and defend the space domain, alongside ensuring smooth support to the Joint and Combined Force.
He also emphasised the need to balance one’s interests in space so as to sustain a stable space environment. Ryder refrained from discussing the possibility of America knowing the presence of the counter-space weapon in the launch in advance.
On the other hand, on Wednesday, Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, labelled the Pentagon’s statements as an “information leak.”
“I don’t think that we should respond to any information leak from Washington. The Russian space program is developing as planned, launches of spacecraft for various purposes, including devices that solve the problem of strengthening our defence capability, this is also not news,” as he explained in Moscow.
Mutual accusations over weaponising space
There have been several instances in recent times of world leaders hurling accusations at one another regarding the topic of weaponising space. Thus, non-proliferation resolutions at the United Nations gain importance in keeping outer space off-limits from all sorts of weaponry.
This Monday saw a proposal from Moscow for the same, which US envoy Robert Wood labelled as a distraction, accusing Moscow of “diplomatic gaslighting,” given that the supposed counter-space weapon was “presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit”.
Wood further remarked, “Russia deployed this new counter-space weapon into the same orbit as a US government satellite. Russia’s May 16 launch follows prior Russian satellite launches likely of counter-space systems to low Earth orbit in 2019 and 2022.”
This follows in line with the White House’s February statement of a Russian anti-satellite weapon under development, confirmed after a warning of national security under threat.
Nevertheless, despite the continued tensions between both powers over the space race, heightened by the war in Ukraine, outer space remains a place of rare cooperation between Russia and the US.
This is given their astronauts are jointly stationed at the International Space Station alongside the Outer Space Treaty of 167 banning the deployment of “any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” into orbit or outer space.”
