Russia would prepare a satellite trapped with nuclear propulsion, to attack Starlink machines

Missiles, drones, trenches … Similarly, And now space. Moreover, Four years after the start of the war in Ukraine, a new threat from the terrestrial orbit worries Westerners. Consequently, According to a survey published on Forbes by Kevin Holden Platt. Nevertheless, Russia are in the process of developing means of space sabotage with nuclear vocation, capable of neutralizing a large part of the American and European satellites.

The threat would not take the form of a classic missile pulled on an identified satellite. Therefore, but that, much more insidious, of a spacecraft powered by nuclear energy, whose plannified destruction would trigger a brutal rise in radiation in the orbital environment. Consequently, In an interview with Forbes. Meanwhile, Elena Grossfel, specialist in Russian space systems in King’s College London, says that this type of attack – camouflaged in technical accident – would allow Moscow to russia would prepare satellite trapped benefit from a “plausible denial”while causing considerable damage to the Allied constellations.

From the accident to the weapon – Russia would prepare satellite trapped

The concept is not completely new. In addition, From the 1960s, the United States and the USSR had envisaged the use of space as a nuclear battlefield. But the novelty lies in the current Russian approach: passing a sabotage for a breakdown. Grossfeld argues that Roscosmos has already launched a prototype in an orbit close to the Van Allen belt -. highly sensitive to radioactive disturbances.

An explosion controlled in this area could be enough to saturate the orbital environment of ionized particles. damaging civil and military satellites located nearby – without it being possible to formally prove the deliberate origin of the event.

A targeted constellation: Starlink

In sight: the megaconstellation Starlink of SpaceX, property of Elon Musk. This plays an essential role in the Ukrainian defense. since it ensures russia would prepare satellite trapped the connectivity of its army, its government and a large part of the population. And Moscow understood this well: his diplomats explicitly threatened the United Nations to attack SpaceX satellites. and several land terminals were targeted by strikes and shuffles.

A nuclear attack disguised as a simple dysfunction could be an extreme strategy to neutralize the military capacities of Ukraine. while avoiding an open climbing with the Atlantic Alliance. Such a maneuver. if it was proven, would represent a sneaky climbing in the conflict, blurring the lines between accident and act of deliberate war.

Space war has already started

In reality, the “Space War” is already underway. Upon triggering the Russian invasion in February 2022. a cyber attack targeting the terrestrial terminals of Viasat paralyzed the Ukrainian and European communications, marking the entry into scene of a discreet but crucial front: space. Although the United Kingdom has formally attributed the russia would prepare satellite trapped attack to the GRU. the Russian military intelligence services, no tangible response has been provided by Westerners.

For Elena Grossfeld. Western passivity in the face of Russian attacks in space could encourage Vladimir Putin to cross a new threshold. By deliberately sacrificing some of its own satellites via a targeted nuclear sabotage. the Kremlin would send a double message: recall its disruption capacity while paralyzing the crucial satellite networks for Ukraine and its allies.

Behind the Russian orbital maneuvers is looming a strategic objective: to break the technological hegemony of the United States in space. perceived by Moscow as an existential threat. The ex-spatial power. formerly a leader in the cosmic conquest, now sees its heritage overshadowed by the meteoric ascent of SpaceX, Chinese ambition and Western military networks unified by satellites.