Space nukes are raising tensions between Moscow and Washington. Here’s what you need to know
In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin talks to students and Chelyabinsk Region industry workers at the Stankomash plant in Chelyabinsk on February 16, 2024. Alexander Ryumin | Afp | Getty Images A fresh spat between Washington and Moscow has raised alarm about the potential risk of a space-based nuclear satellite attack which could cause chaos to critical communications systems on Earth. Russia denied U.S. claims that it was developing a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon, with President Vladimir Putin saying Tuesday that the Kremlin was “categorically against” the deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and accusing the White House of scaring lawmakers into passing a new aid package for Ukraine. It comes after a Reuters report emerged earlier Tuesday, citing one source, that the U.S. believes Moscow is developing a space nuke whose detonation could knock out the satellites underpinning critical U.S. infras