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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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Intelligence agencies from two NATO countries believe Russia is developing an anti-satellite weapon to target Elon Musk's Starlink network, according to a new report.
The weapon would fill Starlink orbits with shrapnel and could take out multiple satellites at once, The Associated Press reported on Monday. This could also seriously damage other objects in orbit.
Why It Matters
Starlink has for years proven vital to Ukraine on the battlefield, with Kyiv leaning heavily on its internet access for communications and for controlling its vast drone fleets. Russia has warned satellites propping up Ukraine's military are "legitimate targets."
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Weaponizing space has been a highly controversial issue for decades. The U.S. has assessed that Russia, as well as China, are racing to put new systems in space that would boost their own militaries and work against the U.S.
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What To Know
The intelligence assessments said the pellets designed to take out the satellites would measure just millimeters in diameter, making it very hard for detection systems to pick up, according to the AP.
It added that they would be a "zone-effect" weapons likely to impact anything in the approximate area, rather than a way of targeting satellites with precision. This could jeopardize Russia's own systems in space, as well as those operated by other nations like China.
Analysts said that the risks involved with such a weapon, including to Moscow's own interests, could discourage Russia from pursuing the system.
The report did not identify which intelligence services had made the assessments. Newsweek could not independently verify the conclusions.
Starlink uses a huge constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide internet through terminals on the ground.
Russia carried out a direct-ascent anti-satellite test in November 2021 when it destroyed an old Soviet intelligence-gathering satellite in LEO.
The U.S. Space Command said at the time that the trial had generated at least 1,500 pieces of trackable debris in orbit that could linger for decades, and NASA reported personnel on the International Space Station had to take "emergency procedures for safety." The U.S. government condemned the test as "reckless and irresponsible behavior."
The NATO intelligence suggests the Russian weapon could target multiple Starlinks at the same time, rather than one singular LEO satellite, the AP reported.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry and SpaceX, which operates Starlink, for comment via email.
What People Are Saying
Brigadier General Christopher Horner, the head of the Canadian military's Space Division, told the AP: "I can’t say I’ve been briefed on that type of system. But it's not implausible.
"If the reporting on the nuclear weapons system is accurate and that they're willing to develop that and willing to go to that end, well it wouldn't strike me as shocking that something just short of that, but equally damaging, is within their wheelhouse of development."
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