The White House said the threat is « not an active capability » and cannot « attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth. »
The White House confirmed Thursday that the U.S. has intelligence that Russia is developing a capability to target satellites in space, one day after the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee gave a cryptic warning about « . »
« It is related to an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing, » John Kirby, a national security spokesman, said at the daily press briefing. « This is not an active capability that’s been deployed, and though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety. »
« We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth, » Kirby said, later adding that the threat « would be space-based. »
Kirby said the U.S. has been aware of Russia’s pursuit of the capability for many months, if not years, « but only in recent weeks now has the intelligence community been able to assess with a higher sense of confidence exactly how Russia continues to pursue it. »
Kirby would not give details about whether the capability involved a nuclear-powered weapon or a nuclear-capable weapon.
