US officers: A Russian rocket launch final week doubtless deployed an area weapon

Enlarge / A Russian Soyuz rocket climbs away from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Might 16.

The launch of a categorised Russian navy satellite tv for pc final week deployed a payload that US authorities officers say is probably going an area weapon.

In a sequence of statements, US officers mentioned the brand new navy satellite tv for pc, named Kosmos 2576, seems to be much like two earlier “inspector” spacecraft launched by Russia in 2019 and 2022.

“Simply final week, on Might 16, Russia launched a satellite tv for pc into low-Earth orbit that the USA assesses is probably going a counter-space weapon presumably able to attacking different satellites in low-Earth orbit,” mentioned Robert Wooden, the deputy US ambassador to the United Nations. “Russia deployed this new counter-space weapon into the identical orbit as a US authorities satellite tv for pc.”