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US accuses Russia of firing anti-satellite weapon in space

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/overseas/07/24/earthnasa.jpg"/><figcaption>Planet Earth. Image by NASA/Joshua Stevens</figcaption></figure></div>The United States accused Russia on Thursday of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space, warning that the threat against Washington&#x27;s systems was &quot;real, serious and increasing.&quot;US Space Command &quot;has evidence&quot; that Moscow &quot;conducted a non-destructive test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon&quot; on July 15, it said in a statement.&quot;Last week&#x27;s test is another example that the threats to US and Allied space systems are real, serious and increasing,&quot; the statement continued.&quot;Clearly this is unacceptable,&quot; tweeted US nuclear disarmament negotiator Marshall Billingslea, adding that it would be a &quot;major issue&quot; discussed next week in Vienna, where he is in talks on a successor to the New START treaty.The treaty caps the nuclear warheads of the US and Russia -- the two Cold War-era superpowers.On Thursday, President Donald Trump told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that he hopes to avoid an &quot;expensive&quot; arms race with Russia and China.The system used to conduct last week&#x27;s test is the same one that Space Command raised concerns about earlier this year, when it maneuvered near a US government satellite, said General Jay Raymond, head of US Space Command.&quot;This is further evidence of Russia&#x27;s continuing efforts to develop and test space-based systems, and consistent with the Kremlin&#x27;s published military doctrine to employ weapons that hold US and allied space assets at risk,&quot; Raymond said in a statement. It is the latest example of Russian satellites behaving in a manner &quot;inconsistent with their stated mission,&quot; the Space Command statement added.&quot;This event highlights Russia&#x27;s hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control,&quot; said Christopher Ford, a US assistant secretary of state for arms control. The statement also came as China launched a rover to Mars on Thursday, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space.

The United States accused Russia on Thursday of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space, warning that the threat against Washington's systems was "real, serious and increasing."

The United States accused Russia on Thursday of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space, warning that the threat against Washington's systems was "real, serious and increasing."