There’s a new space race underway, and Congress is worried the United States is losing it.
Officials say Russia is still developing what Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate intelligence panel, described in an interview with NOTUS as a “doomsday weapon”: an anti-satellite device with nuclear capabilities. Any kind of nuclear detonation in orbit would threaten satellites the United States depends on for GPS, banking, military operations, intelligence gathering and communications.
Lawmakers have been fretting about the potential weapon since Rep. Mike Turner warned of a serious national security threat in February, referring to information lawmakers had been given about it. Administration officials also had the weapon in mind as they requested tens of billions of dollars for more U.S. space security funding this year. News of its development has even prompted some American satellite companies to change how they build spacecraft.