EU's Josep Borrell expresses concern over Russia's capacity to destroy satellites in Space

Russia is capable of destroying satellites using its anti-satellite weapons, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who also expressed concern that Moscow could also conduct cyberattacks on satellites.

These remarks were given by Borell at the 15th European Space Conference, where he recalled how Russia tested its kinetic anti-satellite weapon in 2021, which signalled to the world that Russian satellites can put everyone’s satellites at risk, according to a Sputnik report.

EU's Borrell expresses concern over Russia's capacity of destroying satellites in Space

"In November 2021, Russia tested a kinetic anti-satellite weapon. This was an irresponsible act that not only generated dangerous debris in space but also signalled to everyone that Russia is prepared to put everyone’s satellites at risk. "If they could do that with one satellite, they could do it with our satellites," Borrell said.

Earlier in November 2021, Russia announced that its space agency had successfully conducted the tests of its anti-satellite missile system and struck down the inactive Russian Tselina-D spacecraft. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu later announced that the debris from the old satellite resulting from the test did not pose any threat to other satellites or space activities.

Notably, Russia possesses around 5500 satellites in orbit, and almost 10% of them have military applications, with many others being used for both civilian and military purposes, Borell highlighted. He further said that satellite information was crucial during the conflict in Ukraine, keeping citizens "connected to their country and the outside world."

"This raises a certain number of critical and strategic questions." "How many of our critical infrastructures in the European Union depend on space services?" the diplomat noted.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the head of Russia's state space corporation, Roscosmos, Yury Borisov, said Russia must increase the constellation of its satellites in orbit from the current 200 to at least 1,000 by 2030. "In our opinion, we should have a constellation of at least 1,000 satellites by 2030," Borisov said at the Korolev Academic Space Conference in Moscow. He further said that the current satellite production of Russia is "insufficient."

Image: AP