Pentagon "on its feet": We are on the brink of a space war; Cosmos 2576 vs. US 314

As he said, "Russia has launched a satellite into low Earth orbit, which we estimate is likely a space weapon."

The Pentagon spokesman said that the Russian "weapon" is in the "same orbit" as the American satellite and added that Washington will continue to monitor the situation and must be ready to protect its interests.

For now, there are no comments from the Russian side, the Greek portal pronews.gr reported. It is recalled that in recent weeks, Russia and the US have repeatedly clashed at the UN over space weapons, accusing each other of seeking to militarize space.

Earlier yesterday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the US is trying to turn space into an "arena of military confrontation".

Defense experts have long warned that space is likely to become the next front of conflict in an increasingly technology-dependent world. Brigadier General Ryder said the Pentagon believes the Russian satellite is "probably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit."

"Russia has developed this new anti-space weapon in the same orbit as a US government satellite (...) We have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the domain, the space domain," the Pentagon spokesman added.

The same was supported by his statements to Reuters and a representative of the US space administration, noting that the Russian satellite Kosmos 2576 was launched on May 16 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, about 800 km north of Moscow.

A statement from the Russian space agency Roscosmos said that the launch on May 17, and the difference in the dates given by Moscow and Washington probably explains the time difference, was carried out in the "interests of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation".

While no other details have been released by either side, analysts say Kosmos 2576 appears to be in the same orbit as the US satellite USA 314. Since the start of its intervention in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has warned that US satellites assisting Kyiv's armed forces could be legitimate targets.

Last February, the White House announced that Russia was developing a "disturbing" new space weapon, which it has not yet developed. A report last year by Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies said Russia was developing a range of anti-satellite weapons (ASAT), including a missile that was successfully tested in November 2021 to destroy a Soviet-era satellite, according to the BBC.