Some havespeculated thatit could be cleaning up the skies, collecting space junk that has accumulated over the years as satellites have beendestroyed. Another possibility is that it could be arepair or refueling vehiclefor existing satellites. But some areworried thatit could have amore sinister purpose becauseof Russia’s history with anti-satellite weaponry. During the Cold War, Russia initiated its “Istrebitel Sputnikov” (“satellite killer”) project whichwas designedto bring down or fatally damage othersatellites, but Russia scrapped the program in the 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed. However, Russian military officials havereportedly saidthat they would revive the project if relations with the US deteriorated.Some are therefore worriedthat the sanctions the West is currently imposing on Russia due to its involvement in the Ukrainecrisis earlierthis yearhaveprompted Russia to start researchingspace weaponry once more. Theability to takedown another nation’s satellite is widely regardedas a keynational-security capability, but Russia is not the only country thatis known to have workedon developing satellite-destroying technology. Back in 2007, China destroyed one of its own weathersatellites, and the US blewup one of its obsolete crafts the following year.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 10:28:21 +0000
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