(NewsNation) — Russia is aiming to develop a nuclear space weapon capable of obliterating satellites, potentially disrupting vital services like cell phone communication and internet access worldwide. This weapon could generate a massive energy wave upon detonation, CNN reported.
President Joe Biden said Friday there was no sign Russia has decided to go ahead and deploy an emerging anti-satellite weapon, the disclosure of which has rattled Washington this week.
The White House has confirmed that U.S. intelligence officials have information indicating Russia has obtained such a capability, although such a weapon is not yet operational. Biden said Friday that “there’s no evidence that they have made a decision to go forward with doing anything in space,” while he continued to stress that there was no immediate danger to humans.
“There is no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world with what Russia’s doing at the moment,” Biden told reporters at the White House during remarks on the reported death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The president confirmed that the capability obtained by Russia “related to satellites and space and damaging those satellites potentially,” and that those capabilities could “theoretically do something that was damaging.”
But Russia hasn’t moved forward with plans yet, and, Biden added: “My hope is, it will not.”
The news of the capability emerged this week after a cryptic warning from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who urged Biden to declassify information relating to what he called a “serious national security threat.”
That declassification process had been underway when Turner released the statement, according to the White House.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Germany for the Munich Security Conference, raised the matter with Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and “emphasized that the pursuit of this capability should be a matter of concern,” according to a U.S. official traveling with Blinken in Munich.
The official, who was granted anonymity to discuss details of meetings that hadn’t been publicly disclosed, said Blinken will continue raising it throughout his meetings at the security forum.
While the weapon is still in development and not yet deployed, its potential usage would mark a perilous escalation in nuclear capabilities and could disrupt everyday life significantly, officials warn. Termed a nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP), the weapon would emit electromagnetic energy and charged particles, disrupting satellites in Earth’s orbit, according to CNN.
While experts acknowledge the weapon’s potential to cripple satellite constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink, they also highlight its indiscriminate impact on Russian satellites.
If Russia were to deploy a nuclear EMP, it would contravene the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which prohibits placing weapons of mass destruction in space, Biden administration officials said. However, Russia’s withdrawal from several arms control agreements in recent years has undermined global efforts to regulate arms in space.
U.S. officials unanimously believe that even if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in orbit, it would not be detonated. Instead, it would remain as a dormant threat in low orbit, serving as a reminder from Putin that economic destruction could be unleashed without directly targeting humans on Earth, should he face significant pressure from sanctions or military opposition regarding his ambitions in Ukraine or elsewhere, according to the New York Times.
Because space is not militarized, the U.S. likely does not have any defense system that could prevent a hostile Russian attack on satellites — at least none that are publicly known.
NewsNation’s affiliate The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.