NATO Intelligence: Russia Suspected Of Using Orbital 'Debris Clouds' To Kill Elon Musk's Starlink

In a significant development, Russia is said to have developed a weapon that can cripple or damage satellites, such as Elon Musk's Starlink constellation, by launching clouds of small pellets into space.

The weapon would pose a threat to military, civilian, and humanitarian communications when operational. It may produce massive orbital debris, leading to collisions with other satellites and space stations.

Experts warn that a system of this nature will wreak havoc in space, at the cost of global infrastructure and the emergence of threats from Russia itself.

Space Warfare Can Cause Trouble For International Safety

NATO-allied intelligence agencies suspect that Russia might be experimenting with a zone-effect weapon that generates high-density pellets that are minute enough to get away to the satellite orbits.

According to scientists, Russia is attempting to clog the targeted region with debris and bring down multiple satellites simultaneously. This may seem to be a winning strategy against the satellite network-using enemies, but according to the analysts, the collateral damage would be devastating.

The debris can also become uncontrollable and demolish other satellites, some of which are known to follow weather, give navigation, and provide international communications.

The reports given to the Associated Press, which were given anonymously, have not been confirmed. However, they also indicate growing concern about the militarisation of space and the prospect of war beyond the planet's surface.

US and Allies Continue To Monitor Russia's Space Militarisation

These reports have not been confirmed by the US Space Force or other allied space services, but they are nonetheless aware of Russia's increasing activity and recent claims of reckless behaviour in space.

According to France's Space Command, Russia has engaged in patterns deemed threatening.

'We can inform you that Russia has, in recent years, been multiplying irresponsible, dangerous, and even hostile actions in space,' the French Space Command told AP.

That type of weapon is said to be in its infancy, and even there, there is no indicator of tests or preparations. According to the authorities, it is most likely experimental, and it is yet unclear when it will be working.

The satellite network developed by the company Starlink, designed by Elon Musk, has now become a significant element of Ukraine's communications infrastructure in the ongoing war with Russia.

Starlink plays a critical role in battlefield organisation, weapon targeting, and contact maintenance for the Ukrainian military in case the Russian forces attack ground facilities.

Citizens of warring countries also depend on the service in their daily lives, and so this network will be a desirable objective for Moscow.

In Development Stages

Russian officials have often raised alarms that satellites that are used by the military in Ukraine could be legitimate targets of the war.

The recent assertion of the S-500 missile system, aimed at low orbit, points to Russia's keenness to disrupt satellite-based systems.

The weapon proposed will destroy multiple satellites simultaneously with a cloud of pellets, rather than in the past, where each missile targeted an individual satellite, such as a successful missile strike on a dead satellite in 2021.

Analysts are highly sceptical about whether this type of weapon should be a fundamental concept.

Space-security expert Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation is not convinced that Russia could devise a system that wouldn't leave Starlink in ruins by deliberately targeting it.

'I would be very surprised, frankly, if they were to do something like that,' she said.

The intelligence reports do not specify the timing of Russia's introduction of such a weapon, or even whether it has been tested. The system is not yet fully developed, and the authorities are pointing out that it is technically possible to have an efficient, accurate pool of pellets that will kill a number of satellites.

Pellet-based Weapon Can Render Space Assets Incapacitated

Small pellets, but a few millimetres in diameter, would be practically unsolvable and untraceable in the event of an attack, and would be challenging to hold to answer.

The pellet clouds also worry military analysts, as they could be highly detrimental by damaging the solar panels and the delicate electronics of the satellites, rendering them incapable of operation. Interception of communications, navigation, and weather forecasts may be immediate following the destruction of major satellites.

Better still, the debris from such an attack would eventually return to Earth, and this would not be safe for other spacecraft or ground facilities.

The greater problem is that the potential worsening of space confrontations into a particular form of war that might be uncontrollable arises. The concept of the weapon of fear itself seems to be a deterrent, in which the weapon of orbital destruction is a strategic measure.

However, the indiscriminateness of a weapon based on pellets will become an issue for the tranquillity of activities in space, which are anchored in predictable, stable conditions with no debris.

Although the possibility is disturbing, other observers think that Moscow could be testing or researching such systems as a means of intimidation or to rationalise increased spending on space defence.

While its actual abilities and plans are unknown, the possible human effects are vast. Such interference with key satellites would disrupt emergency rescues, expose people to danger, and undermine the global security structures that rely heavily on space resources.