US accuses Russia of testing anti-satellite weapon in space
- Mission exposes Moscow’s intent to threaten US and allied assets, US says
- Russia says July 15 event involved ‘small space vehicle’ used for inspection at ‘close distance’
The United States accused Russia on Thursday of conducting a test of an anti-satellite weapon in space, asserting that it exposed Moscow’s intent to deploy weapons that threaten US and allied satellites.
In Moscow, the Defence Ministry said the July 15 event involved “a small space vehicle” that “inspected one of the national satellites from a close distance using special equipment”. It added that the inspection “provided valuable information about the object that was inspected, which was transmitted to the ground-based control facilities”.
The US, however, said the Russian actions were inconsistent with the stated mission of an inspector satellite.
“The Russian satellite system used to conduct this on-orbit weapons test is the same satellite system that we raised concerns about earlier this year, when Russia manoeuvred near a US government satellite,” said General John W. Raymond, commander of Space Command and the head of US Space Force.
“This is further evidence of Russia’s continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin’s published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk.”