A Russian satellite, Cosmos 2553, is tumbling out of control and posing a danger for other orbiting craft. Satellite observation specialist LeoLabs has reported that the “anti-satellite weapon” launched into orbit in 2022 is no longer functional.

Cosmos 2553 is thought to be part of a Russian effort to develop a nuclear weapon that could indiscriminately fry many other satellites at once in Low Earth Orbit. That approach would threaten proliferated constellations that wouldn’t otherwise be affected by losing a few spacecraft to traditional anti-satellite weapons.

According to a Reuters report, the craft has been alleged by US observers to be part of a Russian nuclear space weapon system.

“The Cosmos 2553 satellite, launched by Russia weeks before invading Ukraine in 2022, has had various bouts of what appears to be errant spinning over the past year, according to Doppler radar data from space-tracking firm LeoLabs and optical data from Slingshot Aerospace shared with Reuters,” said the news agency. “Believed to be a radar satellite for Russian intelligence as well as a radiation testing platform, the satellite last year became the center of U.S. allegations that Russia for years has been developing a nuclear weapon capable of destroying entire satellite networks, such as SpaceX’s vast Starlink internet system that Ukrainian troops have been using.”

The Cosmos 2553 satellite has been in a relatively isolated orbit some 2,000 km above Earth, parked in a hotspot of cosmic radiation that communications or Earth-observing satellites typically avoid.

Cosmos 2553 is one of dozens of Russian satellites in space with suspected ties to its military and intelligence programmes. The country has viewed SpaceX’s Starlink, a formidable constellation of thousands of satellites, as a legitimate military target as Ukrainian troops use the service in conjunction with weapons on the battlefield, stated Reuters.

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