Pearl Harbor in Space? NATO Warns of Russian Nuclear Threat

Space Technology and Policy

Good morning,

Last week, we discussed how leaders in the United States’ space ecosystem are increasingly concerned at adversaries’ actions in space. Whether it’s the testing of Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) or Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite weapons (DA-ASAT) or cyber attacks against space systems, we have plenty of cause for concern.

Well the stakes continue to climb ever higher. There has been speculation for several years about Russia’s efforts to give it the ability to place a nuclear device in space. Now, NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte has outlined his own concerns that Russia is attempting to do this, saying that it is ‘very worrying.’

Rutte’s comments should raise the hair on the back of everybody’s necks and begs the question of whether Russia is looking to accelerate this sort of capability or looking to actually deploy such a system.

We’re going to look into doing some modelling and simulations to try and better understand the overall impacts of such a weapon…