Russia Rejects US Plan on Commercial Satellites for Military Use

Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Directorate, warned today that the U.S. is weaponizing space by using civilian space assets for military purposes. 

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The deputy director's remarks came against a U.S.-led NATO space project involving commercial satellites as military reinforcement within a space surveillance fleet. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that such a move would "improve our intelligence and surveillance" by allowing "better navigation, communication and early warning of missile launches." 

Stoltenberg referred to the bloc's efforts to help Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict with Russia. 

Vorontsov considered the action "a form of participation in [conflicts] by proxy." The official said that "such provocative use of civilian satellites is questionable under the [1967] Outer Space Treaty." 

During a roundtable discussion in the Russian Parliament, the Deputy Director said that civilian space assets are thus exposed to possible attack. "Quasi-civilian space infrastructures" could suffer "retaliation," Vorontsov said.