According to intelligence assessments cited by AP, the weapon would target Starlink’s orbital layer using microscopic fragments, potentially damaging many satellites simultaneously and causing cascading harm to other orbital systems.
However, several analysts expressed scepticism that such a weapon could be deployed without triggering uncontrollable disruption to satellites operated by other countries and companies, including Russia and its ally China, both of which rely on thousands of satellites for communications and defence. The risk to Moscow’s own space assets could deter deployment or use, they said.
Victoria Samson, a space security expert specialising in anti-satellite systems at the Secure World Foundation, a US-based think tank said she would be surprised to see Russia use such weapon.
Meanwhile, Canadian Brigadier General Christopher Horner, commander of Canada’s space division within its air force, said the scenario could not be ruled out given earlier US warnings suggesting Russia was seeking to deploy nuclear weapons in space. At the same time, Horner stressed that controlling the trajectory of debris generated by an attack on a Starlink satellite would be almost impossible.
AP said it was allowed to review the intelligence findings on condition that the agencies involved were not identified and that the conclusions would not be independently verified.
France’s Space Command declined to comment on the intelligence but said Russia had in recent years engaged in irresponsible, dangerous and even hostile actions in space.
Moscow views the satellite network owned by billionaire Elon Musk as a serious threat. Thousands of Starlink low-Earth orbit satellites have played a critical role in Ukraine’s ability to function during Russia’s full-scale invasion, providing high-speed internet for battlefield communications, weapons targeting and civilian use.
Russia has previously warned that commercial satellites supporting Ukraine’s military could be considered legitimate military targets. In December, Moscow announced it had deployed its new S-500 ground-based missile system, which it says is capable of striking low-orbit targets.
Unlike an anti-satellite missile Russia tested in 2021, the suspected new weapon would be designed to hit multiple Starlink satellites at once. The projectiles would be launched from formations of small satellites, AP reported.
Intelligence assessments indicate the fragments involved would be only millimetres in size, making it difficult to identify the source of an attack.
(tf)
Source: PAP, AP