Russia’s new weapon launched into low orbit space is capable of destroying American satelites in this sphere and Washington is extremely worried.
“Russia deployed this new counter-space weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” according to U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Pat Ryder.
The COSMOS 2576 satellite, which is said to be capable of inspecting and attacking other objects in orbit, was secretly launched from the northern Arkhangelsk region last week on May 16 .
COSMOS 2576 appears to be trailing a U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite USA 314, but as of Tuesday, it had not gone near the American satellite.
U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly informed allies about the Russian satellite deployment before its launch, which also included civilian satellites deployed to different orbits.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday accused the U.S. of seeking to place weapons in outer space.
When asked if Moscow had specific information regarding U.S. plans to deploy weapons in space, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s intelligence agencies were monitoring the situation. He did not provide further details.
In February, the White House said Russia was developing a space-based anti-satellite weapon. Moscow denied the claims as “malicious” and “unfounded.”
