Russia Warns West: We Can Target Your Commercial Satellites

Russia Warns West: We Can Target Your Commercial Satellites
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload of 53 Starlink satellites lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on May 18, 2022. Steve Nesius/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

LONDON—A senior Russian foreign ministry official said that commercial satellites from the United States and its allies could become legitimate targets for Russia if they were involved in the war in Ukraine.

Russia, which in 1957 launched Sputnik 1, the first manmade satellite, into space and in 1961 put the first man in outer space, has a significant offensive space capability—as do the United States and China. In 2021, Russia launched an anti-satellite missile to destroy one of its own satellites.