The US Space Command said the test consisted of Russia’s satellite called Cosmos 2543 injecting an object into orbit.
Representational image (Photo: IStock)
The United States accused Russia of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space, warning that the threat against Washington’s systems was “real, serious and increasing.”
US Space Command said it “has evidence” that Moscow “conducted a non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon” on July 15.
Taking to Twitter, US nuclear disarmament negotiator Marshall Billingslea said, “Clearly this is unacceptable”.
Advertisement
The New START treaty caps the nuclear warheads of the US and Russia — the two Cold War-era superpowers.
In response to the accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia supports “full demilitarisation of space and not basing any type of weapons in space.”
The US Space Command said the test consisted of Russia’s satellite called Cosmos 2543 injecting an object into orbit.
Cosmos-2543 had been deployed by another satellite, Cosmos-2542, which was launched on 25 of November 2019 by the Russian military, according to the Russian state media.
The system is the same one that Space Command raised concerns about earlier this year, when it maneuvered near a US government satellite, said General Jay Raymond, head of US Space Command.
US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-proliferation, Christopher Ford, accused Moscow of hypocrisy after it said it wanted arms control to be extended to space.
“Moscow aims to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting its own counter-space programme,” he said.
The US said the Russian satellite system was the same one it raised concerns about in 2018 and earlier this year, when the US accused it of manoeuvring close to an American satellite.
Russia, the UK, the US and China are among more than 100 nations to have committed to a space treaty that stipulates that outer space is to be explored by all and purely for peaceful purposes.
(With inputs from agency)
Advertisement
