Russian Satellites are Following US Satellite Says Space Force
The revelations also mark the first substantive statement from the Space Force and come at a time when the US has become increasingly concerned about what adversaries are doing in space...!
Space force, the newest military service of the United States, has observed that the Russian satellites have been exhibiting the ‘unusual and disturbing behavior’ while following a US satellite in orbit. These accusations are significant as all the countries that are involved in space research, works mutually.
In a statement, Space Force’s Chief of Space Operation, General John Raymond said, “Last November the Russian government launched a satellite that subsequently released a second satellite. These satellites have been actively maneuvering near a U.S. government satellite and behaving similar to another set of satellites that Russia deployed in the year 2017, and which the Russian government named ‘inspector satellites’.”
The revelations by Raymond also mark the first substantive statement from the Space Force and come at a time when the US has become increasingly concerned about what adversaries are doing in space and it is one of the reasons why the US launched the new military branch.
Space Force is the first new military service since 1947, launched in December last year. The Trump administration has also requested $18 billion for the Space Force and other space activities recently as part of its Pentagon budget.
According to the state-run TASS news agency, the Russian satellite, which is in question, has released a second satellite in the month of December last year.
At that time, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement, “The purpose of the experiment is to continue work on assessing the technical condition of domestic satellites”.
Raymond also said the recent actions by Russia are going to place the county among the nations that “have turned space into a war fighting domain. Similar activities in any other domain would be interpreted as potentially threatening behavior.”
He also added, “This is unusual and disturbing behavior and has the potential to create a dangerous situation in space. The United States finds these recent activities to be concerning and do not reflect the behavior of a responsible spacefaring nation.”
Raymond also noted that the Russian satellites have the characteristics of a weapon, after being deployed in the year 2017, one of those satellites released a high-speed projectile into space. The matter was serious and therefore the United States raised the issue in the following year, during the United Nations Conference on Disarmament.
If it is true, then no doubt it is a threat not only to the US but also to the space research programs by the countries involved in the exploration of space science.