this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2025
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Two NATO-nation intelligence services suspect Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon to target Elon Musk’s Starlink constellation with destructive orbiting clouds of shrapnel, with the aim of reining in Western space superiority that has helped Ukraine on the battlefield.

Intelligence findings seen by The Associated Press say the so-called “zone-effect” weapon would seek to flood Starlink orbits with hundreds of thousands of high-density pellets, potentially disabling multiple satellites at once but also risking catastrophic collateral damage to other orbiting systems.

Analysts who haven’t seen the findings say they doubt such a weapon could work without causing uncontrollable chaos in space for companies and countries, including Russia and its ally China, that rely on thousands of orbiting satellites for communications, defense and other vital needs.

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[–] just2look@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You're probably right, but I'd really like to not have anything blown up in orbit.

[–] TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

More worried about the tons of shrapnel falling down to earth and not burning in the atmosphere.

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

These satellites are designed to fully burn up on reentry. There is effectively zero chance of that.

On the flip side, the aerosols created by burning satellites destroy the ozone layer.