RUSSIA has technologies at its disposal for military action from outer space including electronic warfare materials, satellites, and lasers.
The Ukraine war has been a vessel for the continued weaponizing of space.
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“In space, Russia is seeking to mitigate the superiority of US and NATO space assets by fielding a number of ground, air, and space-based offensive capabilities,” Dr Matthew Mowthorpe wrote in an essay for The Space Review.
A veteran of the UK Ministry of Defense where he managed the Space Team for eight years, Mowthorpe is currently a satellite architect-engineer for Airbus Defence and Space.
According to his report, the Russians tested spy satellites that can observe US intelligence satellites.
Cosmos 2542, a Russian satellite, situated itself so that it would closely and menacingly pass a $4billion dollar American space telescope.
The Russians also have also affixed 250,00 GPS jammers to cell towers to prevent nations from operating with accuracy in Russian-controlled spaces.
“These systems have been deployed in support of Russian deployments to Syria and Ukraine,” Mowthorpe wrote.
Mowthorpe reported that the Russians quietly revived a laser program from the Soviet era.
The laser system was designed for “dazzling rather than destroying” and has applications in lower Earth orbit and as reconnaissance sabotage.
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The Russians also demolished one of their own satellites in a demonstration of a direct-ascent anti-satellite weapon (ASAT).
Military action in lower Earth orbit between any two nations has the potential to wreak havoc on satellite systems and space stations in orbit.
The Kessler Syndrome is the theory that one collision could cause a chain reaction of impacts leading to the destruction of every satellite in orbit.
Objects in orbit are traveling at 17,000 miles per hour – objects just four inches in diameter can cause catastrophic damage at this speed.
A scientist working in Russia warned that it would be difficult to determine if a space collision was accidental or intentional.
Vitaly Adushkin told Business Insider a crash “may provoke political or even armed conflict between space-faring nations.”
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