The U.S. Intelligence Community believes that Russia launched an anti-satellite space weapon.
“We have observed nominal activity and assess it is likely a counter-space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low-Earth orbit,” the U.S. Space Command said in a statement.
The weapon was reportedly “deployed this new counter-space into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” U.S. representative in the U.N. Robert Wood said.
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Major General Pat Ryder stated during a press briefing, “We have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the domain, the space domain, and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the Joint and Combined Force.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia acts “absolutely in accordance with international law, do not violate anything, and have repeatedly advocated banning any weapons in space.”
He claimed that “these initiatives of ours were rejected, including by the USA.”
Russia has been developing anti-satellite capabilities for years and is part of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that prohibits putting weapons of mass destruction into outer space, according to Reuters.