LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2020) The head of the UK Defense Ministry's Space Directorate joined the US military on Thursday in blaming Russia for what they see as a test of a space-based anti-satellite weapon.
The US Space Command said earlier in the day that a Russian satellite appeared to have injected a new object into orbit on July 15 in proximity of another Russian satellite. It said the maneuver seemed to be a "non-destructive test" inconsistent with the spacecraft's stated mission as an inspector satellite. On July 15, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had tested an inspector satellite that successfully examined another Russian spacecraft in the orbit.
"We are concerned by the manner in which Russia tested one of its satellites by launching a projectile with the characteristics of a weapon. Actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space and risk causing debris," Air Vice Marshal Harvey Smyth tweeted.
Smyth warned that space junk resulting from weapon tests in space could "pose a threat to satellites and the space systems on which the world depends," and urged Russia to avoid any weapon testing.
Russia has repeatedly called on Western countries to engage in work on joint measures to prevent an arms race in space.
