Is Russia Already Fighting In Space?
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The world’s major powers follow an unwritten rule when it comes to space exploration: no weapons in orbit. But lately the three leading space nations—the US, China, and Russia—have been accused of ignoring this so far undisturbed agreement. Russia, especially.
The accusations involve three Russian satellites that may be “suicide” weapons, devices that can smash into and destroy other satellites. Russia did not announce the satellites or fully register them with the UN, as launch nations generally do. The craft practically dance around in orbit. One may even have collided with another object. Although the satellites could be agile spy craft or repair drones, their potential as weapons has the world rather worried.
Russia launched the crafts in March from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, around 800 kilometers north of Moscow. While satellites moving in orbit are of no concern to anyone, the Russian craft soon began to act up. According to reports, the Cosmos-2504, one of the three satellites, started its first maneuver in April, followed by a few more small maneuvers over the next week to bring it closer to the Briz-KM rocket body that helped launch the satellite.
At some point the Briz-KM’s orbit was disturbed by an unknown perturbation, which could have been the result of a minor collision between the two space objects. If it was, the impact was very slight and did not result in additional debris being generated.
Though no proof has been received that the collision was planned, the option of it being a military test gives rise to some disturbing possibilities. During a conflict, Russia could knock out other countries’ satellites—and by extension, those countries’ ability to communicate, navigate, and spy.
While the possibility of any craft to be turned into a weapon or a ramming tool seems daunting, it would certainly be difficult to act on such minor “foul play” incidents, if that is indeed what this was. Unfortunate as it may be, we must wait until a clear attack is made before taking any action, as well as before declaring a new arena for a world war.
