BLAST OFF

Russia Made Alarming Spacecraft Launch Before Ukraine Invasion: Report

The Cosmos-2553 satellite is still in orbit.

Nineteen days before Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a Russian rocket launched into space carrying a satellite designed to test components for a weapon that would destroy satellites using a nuclear weapon, according to a report. U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that the satellite—Cosmos-2553—is not itself armed with a nuke, but it is part of Moscow’s ongoing anti-satellite program. American officials have reportedly dismissed Russia’s explanation that the spacecraft is designed to carry out scientific research, saying its true purpose is to test non-nuclear components of the new weapons system. The eventual weapon, if it comes to fruition, would give Putin the ability to take out hundreds of satellites with a nuclear blast. That includes both U.S. government and commercial satellites, according to the officials, like the SpaceX Starlink satellites that have played a crucial role in Ukraine’s battlefield communications.