Speculation that Russia may be developing a new space-based nuclear weapon has fueled debate about what is happening and what military installations in space could mean, Sky News reports.

But the space is already used for military purposes. Thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth are vital for targeting missiles, navigating fighter jets and controlling nuclear weapons.

So is space the new war front, or are the downsides so great that it’s just not worth it?

Thousands of satellites orbit the Earth

There are more than 8,000 satellites orbiting Earth, and that number is only growing.

“Think how much of our daily lives are determined by satellites in orbit,” says Sky News science correspondent Thomas Moore.

“Everything from telecommunications to GPS…we depend on this eye in the sky. That’s what all the great powers are looking at.”

There are 31 operational GPS satellites, he says, of which 24 are needed for accurate global positioning.

So there is redundancy and to disrupt things on the ground several would have to be removed.

Is space already militarized?

But these satellites are not only used for political purposes, says Dr Bleddyn Bowen, an expert on international relations in space at the University of Leicester.

Space, he argues, has been militarized for decades and satellites serve military purposes.

“And most of the space age is really about these satellites in space, not the astronauts, not the space station, not the boots on the moon. They are just shows.

Can satellites be destroyed?

Yes, but this is not a revelation tied to speculation about any new capability that Vladimir Putin’s military is apparently developing.

The US, Russia, China and India have all successfully shot down their own satellites, proving that if ever needed, it is possible in wartime.

Also, the dual use of satellite technology in space is “full,” says Dr. Bowen. This consists of “close inspections or close flights” of satellites from China, Russia and the US, which are experimenting with the possibility of using one object in space to impale another.

“They have to master these narrow-orbit technologies and inspection technologies if they want to attack these satellites with something that isn’t a nuclear bomb.”

But the consequences of destroying a satellite with a kinetic weapon could be enormous, he adds.

“It will create a cloud of debris that can then hit other satellites… There is no control over that.”
What about other weapons in space?

This is supposed to be prohibited under the UN Outer Space Treaty, to which the US and Russia are parties, says Dr Sarah Jane Fox, an expert at Space Park Leicester.

It says its provisions include banning nuclear weapons in space and limiting the use of the moon and all other celestial bodies for peaceful purposes.

Asked if she expected this treaty to come into force, she said: “It’s an interesting treaty. It has been in place since we first went into space, so since the 1950s, with a written agreement formalized in the latter part of the 1960s.

“Warfare is changing, the domains of war, we have land, sea, air, cyber and space. The two most recent, space and cyber, will undoubtedly be a challenge for the future.”

But what if someone wanted to ignore the UN treaty, would putting a nuclear weapon in space make a difference?

Dr Bowen says: “There is no need to put nuclear bombs in space to continue using nuclear weapons in space because most nuclear weapons are based on Earth. They are in missile silos, submarines or aircraft.

“They can be modified very easily, just to launch into space and instead of falling to earth, they just explode in space.”

Launching a nuclear bomb into space would create a “tremendous mess,” he says.

“There’s just going to be an electromagnetic pulse and it’s going to unleash more radiation into orbit, which is going to power the electronics of so many satellites and possibly knock out the power grids in places down on Earth.”

Moore added that he wasn’t sure how much of an advantage — other than reduced reaction time — there might be for a nation to launch a nuclear weapon from space rather than from a location on Earth.