16.02.2026, Moscow.
The West’s information campaign about growing threat posed by Russia’s space activities is intended to justify further funding of its own space militarization programs as “countermeasures” against Russia’s actions, Rossa Primavera News Agency editorial reads.
In recent years, Western countries — primarily the United States and the United Kingdom — have repeatedly claimed that Russia possesses “satellite interceptors” and “space weapons.” At the same time, these accusations are not supported by irrefutable evidence.
In early February, Commander of the Space Component Command Major General Michael Traut, told the British publication Financial Times that the Russian spacecraft Luch-1 and Luch-2 are suspected of conducting technical reconnaissance, since “they remain near Western communications satellites for long periods” and may intercept information “from at least ten key geostationary satellites located above Europe.”
According to intelligence, the data obtained could allow Moscow to maneuver satellite trajectories or disable them. The European satellites approached by Luch-1 and Luch-2 are mainly used for civilian purposes, such as satellite television, but they also transmit confidential government and certain military communications. Therefore, the West is particularly concerned about the lack of encryption of control signals on many European satellites launched without modern security measures.
In September of last year, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated at the Berlin Conference of Space Industry Leaders, “Russia’s activities pose a serious threat to all of us, especially in space. A threat we can no longer ignore.”
Such statements create in the public sphere the image of a “real Russian threat,” which in turn lifts potential questions about the expediency of multi-billion-dollar spending on Western military space programs.
By making such statements, representatives of Western countries are, to put it mildly, being disingenuous. Right now, more than 9,500 operational Starlink satellites are in low Earth orbit, and in the armed conflict they are operating on Ukraine’s side, providing communications for Ukrainian units.
In addition, a large-scale US military space program is being actively implemented. In January 2025, the administration of Donald Trump initiated the creation of the Golden Dome missile defense system, which envisages deploying up to 200 strike satellites equipped with interceptor missiles, combat lasers, and electromagnetic guns, as well as up to 1,000 tracking satellites.
The United States is also militarizing the commercial space sector. A strategy has been adopted under which commercial satellites and data are integrated into the Space Force’s combat system. The Resolute Space 2025 exercises became an example in which private companies directly participated in creating a realistic combat environment in orbit.
In June 2025, NATO adopted its Commercial Space Strategy formalizing the use of civilian satellites in conflict conditions. NATO allocated $728 million to develop space capabilities and modernize the Space Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base. From January 1, 2026, the AXE (Allied Exchange Environment) data-sharing system – a closed database for managing space missions – was put into operation.
The legal basis for implementing US and European programs lies in loopholes in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits only the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space. Conventional weapons – lasers, kinetic interceptors, electromagnetic guns – do not fall under this ban. Moreover, in 2002 the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which explicitly prohibited the creation of space-based missile defense systems; therefore, there are no longer legal obstacles to the Golden Dome.
Since 2008, Russia and China have made diplomatic efforts to conclude an international treaty to prevent the placement of weapons in space. In February and April 2024, Russia submitted to the UN Security Council a draft resolution calling for a ban on deploying any weapons in space. The United States and its allies blocked it. In parallel, the United States and Japan proposed an alternative resolution that would have consolidated Washington’s existing technological superiority. Russia vetoed it, as the United States proposed banning what was already prohibited while refusing to prohibit what it is actually developing.
It is noteworthy that accusations against Russia often arise at moments when Moscow advances proposals on the inadmissibility of space militarization. This was the case, for example, in May 2024, when the United States announced a Russian launch of “anti-satellite weapons” precisely during the UN Security Council vote on Russia’s resolution. This allowed Western countries to present themselves as reacting to a threat rather than blocking peaceful initiatives.
It is obvious that Russia and other powers, including the United States and China, are actively developing space technologies, including expanding tracking satellites in orbit and anti-satellite capabilities. However, turning this activity into an instrument of information and political warfare serves specific goals: the rhetoric of a “Russian space threat” is a modern strategic tool for justifying space militarization, financial expenditures, technological containment of competitors, and maintaining dominance in conditions where old treaties are losing force and new ones are not being concluded.
