The commander of the German Space Command, Major General Michael Trout, said that a Russian nuclear weapon detonating in orbit could permanently destroy global space infrastructure.

Speaking at an event Friday night on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Trout said he was left with “more questions than answers” about US intelligence agencies allegedly knowing Russia was developing a nuclear-powered anti-satellite weapon in space. component. Trout explained the consequences of a worst-case scenario.

“If someone dared to detonate a nuclear weapon in the high atmosphere or even in space, that would pretty much be the end of the usefulness of these global commons,” Trout said, according to Politico, describing the devastating effects of a nuclear detonation. into space that emits a satellite electromagnetic pulse in low earth orbit.

“No one would survive such an action – no satellite, either Chinese or Russian , whether American or European,” Trout added. “If one makes logical calculations no one would use such a weapon in space.”

Ludwig Möller, director of the European Space Policy Institute, predicted a trillion-dollar economic impact on the banking and energy sectors if Russia were to successfully shoot down commercial satellites. While China and India are also rapidly developing their space technologies, Russia has entered into military aerospace deals with sanctioned nations Iran and North Korea, while the war continues in Ukraine, according to Politico.

Germany, France and the United Kingdom have increased their prospects in recent years to build a credible defense of government and commercial infrastructure on satellites. By signing the National Defense Authorization Act in December 2019, former President Trump created the US Space Force, the first new armed service since 1947.

Despite new US information about Russia developing some sort of anti-satellite nuclear weaponWhite House counsel John Kirby denied there was an imminent threat.

“While Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s security,” Kirby said Thursday. “We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause natural disaster here on Earth.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner made a troubling statement on February 14 regarding information about Russian activities, which he called a “serious threat to national security” and urged President Biden to declassify information

Some sources claimed it was a nuclear weapon, but not a nuclear warhead.

The White House confirmed the next day that the Russian system under development is a space-based anti-satellite weapon and that if deployed it would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans weapons of mass destruction in space. The Kremlin responded by dismissing the reports as a “malicious fabrication”.