“ This is the Cuban missile crisis in space ”: Russia builds a nuclear weapon that could destroy all satellites in orbit, warns in the United States

Instead of normal programming, Ukrainian viewers saw Moscow striped parade sequences: waves of tanks, soldiers and weapons. The message was intended to intimidate and was an illustration that the war of the 21st century is carried out not only on land, the sea and the air, but also in the cyberspace and the range of space.

Disabling a satellite could wear a devastating blow without a bullet, and this can be done by targeting the satellite security software or by disturbing its ability to send or receive signals from the earth.

“If you can hinder the ability of a satellite to communicate, you can lead to a significant disturbance,” said Tom Pace, CEO of Netrise, a cybersecurity company focused on the protection of supply chains.

“Think of the GPS,” said Pace, who served in the Marines before working on cyber-problons at the Ministry of Energy. “Imagine if a population lost this and the confusion that it would cause.”

Satellites are the short -term challenge

More than 12,000 operational satellites now orbit the planet, playing an essential role not only in disseminated communications, but also in military operations, navigation systems such as GPS, information collection and economic supply chains. They are also essential to the anticipated launch efforts, which can warn to approach missiles.

This makes it a significant vulnerability of national security, and a privileged target for anyone looking to undermine the economy or military preparation of an adversary – or to wear a psychological blow like pirates supporting Russia when they have diverted television signals to Ukraine.

Pirates generally look for the lowest link in the software or hardware that supports a satellite or controls its communications with the earth. The real orbit device can be secure, but if it works on obsolete software, it can be easily exploited.

While the Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, someone targeted Viasat, the American satellite society used by the government and the military of Ukraine. Piracy, which Kyiv blamed in Moscow, used malicious software to infect tens of thousands of modems, creating a breakdown affecting large European bands.

National security officials claim that Russia develops a nuclear and spatial weapon designed to eliminate almost all satellites in low orbit in the earth. The weapon would combine a physical attack that was going to overturn, destroying more satellites, while the nuclear component is used to fry their electronics.

US officials have declassified information on the weapon after representative Mike Turner, R-Ohio, issued a public warning about technology. Turner pushed the Ministry of Defense to provide a classified briefing to the weapons, which, if deployed, would violate an international treaty prohibiting weapons of mass destruction in space.

Turner said that such a weapon could make orbit on low land unusable for satellites as long as a year. If used, the effects would be devastating: to potentially leave the United States and its allies vulnerable to economic upheavals and even to a nuclear attack.

Russia and China will also lose satellites, although they are less dependent on the same types of satellites as the United States

Turner compared the weapon, which is not yet ready for deployment, in Sputnik, the Russian satellite which launched the space era in 1957.

“If this anti-satellite nuclear weapon would be placed in space, it would be the end of the space era,” said Turner. “He should never be allowed to enter space. It is the Cuban missile crisis in space. ”

Mine the moon and beyond

Precious minerals and other materials found on the moon and in asteroids could lead to future conflicts while nations seek to exploit new technologies and energy sources.

The interim administrator of NASA, Sean Duffy, announced this month to send a small nuclear reactor to the Moon, saying that it is important that the United States will do it before China or Russia.

“We are in a race for the moon, in a race with China on the Moon,” said Duffy. “To have a base on the Moon, we need energy and some of the key locations on the Moon. … We first want to get there and assert this for America.”

The moon is rich in a material known as helium 3, which, according to scientists, could be used in nuclear fusion to generate huge amounts of energy. Although this technology is in decades, control of the moon in the intermediate years could determine which countries emerge as superpowers, according to Joseph Rooke, a cybersecurity expert based in London who worked in the British defense industry and is now director of risk information in the future of the company.

The end of the Cold War has temporarily interrupted many investments in space, but competition is likely to increase as the promise of extracting from the moon becomes a reality.

“It’s not science fiction. It quickly becomes a reality,” said Rooke. “If you dominate the energy needs of the earth, it’s a finished game.”

China and Russia have announced plans for their own nuclear power plants on the moon in the coming years, while the United States planned missions on the Moon and Mars. Artificial intelligence is likely to speed up competition, as is the demand for the energy that AI needs.

The messages left with the Russian Embassy in Washington were not returned.

Despite its steps in space, China is opposed to any extraterrestrial arms race, according to Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the China Embassy in Washington. He said it was the United States that threatened to militarize the final border.

“He continued to extend the military force in space, created spatial military alliances and tried to transform space into a war zone,” said Liu. “China urges the United States to stop spreading irresponsible rhetoric, to stop developing a military accumulation in space and to contribute due to the maintenance of peace and sustainable security in space.”

What the United States does security in space

The nations rush to create their own rocket and space programs to exploit commercial prospects and ensure that they do not depend on foreign satellites. It is an expensive and difficult proposal, as demonstrated last week when the first Australian manufacturing rocket crashed after 14 seconds of flight.

The American space force was created in 2019 to protect American interests in space and defend American satellites against attacks against adversaries.

The space service is much smaller than the most well established services such as the army, the navy or the air forces, but it grows, and the White House should soon announce a location for its headquarters. Colorado and Alabama are both candidates.

The American army operates an unmanned space shuttle used to carry out classified military missions and research. The craftsmanship, known as X-37B, is recently returned to Earth after more than a year in orbit.

Spatial force has called access to space as an interest in vital national security.

“Space is an area of fighting war, and it is the work of the spatial force to challenge and control its environment to achieve national security objectives,” he said in the press release.

American domination in space has been largely undisputed for decades after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. But the new threats and the competition posed by Russia and China show the need for an aggressive response, according to American officials.

Hope, said Turner, is that the United States can take measures to ensure that Russia and China cannot get the upper hand, and the scary potential of space weapons is not achieved.

“You have to pay attention to these things so that they do not happen,” said Turner.