The United States Department of Defense has disclosed new details about the russian effort to deploy a nuclear weapon in space. For a reminder, this February Washington announced that russia was developing what was described as an anti-satellite weapon utilizing nuclear capabilities.
Now it transpires that russia is already keeping a satellite in space which is part of this weapon development program, as reported during a CSIS conference by Mallory Stewart, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability.
Read more: Tactical Nuclear Drills in russia as Response to "Provocative Statements" From the West: Purpose, Weapons, Reasons
Stewart said the weapon in question is a spacecraft cruising around the globe at a non-standard altitude that is not used by any other satellites and higher than common Earth orbits. The russian federation claimed that the spacecraft was scientific in nature, purposed to study the influence of radiation on electronics, however, its orbit is lower than where radiation belts are powerful enough for the declared research testing.
On a note from Defense Express, the name or type of the russian weaponized spacecraft wasn't stated, its parameters are outlined vaguely. For reference, the parking orbit is the orbit up to 2,000 km in altitude. Meanwhile, the inner radiation belt of Earth is at about 4,000 km, and the outer belt is at 17,000 km.
The U.S. official emphasized that the nuclear weapon itself has not been deployed in space yet but kept to herself any estimates of how much time russia needs to do it.
But more importantly, Stewart specified what is meant by the "anti-satellite weapon utilizing nuclear capabilities." Contrary to the speculations that it could be an electronic warfare satellite with a nuclear power plant, it turned out to be as primitive as it can get: the weapon will be a satellite armed with a nuclear explosion charge.
"Our analysts assess that a detonation at a particular placement in orbit, magnitude, and location would render lower Earth orbit unusable for a certain amount of time," Mallory Stewart warned.
Also, according to experts interviewed by Breaking Defense, the russian development is an actual mass destruction weapon against space vehicles.
Earlier, Defense Express described what would happen if russia detonated a nuclear warhead in space. To put it very briefly, there is a huge risk of turning the entire space around the Earth into a landfill of space debris due to the effect known as the Kessler Syndrome. That is, the entire outer space around the Earth will turn into a spacecraft graveyard impossible to use for decades, if not centuries to come.
Read more: What If russia Explodes a Nuclear Bomb in Space and What Weapon Developments Could be Used For It
