What is Russia’s mysterious new space weapon?

WASHINGTON WAS abuzz on February 14th with news of a mysterious Russian space weapon. Mike Turner, chairman of the House intelligence committee, urged the White House to declassify intelligence on a “serious national-security threat”. American broadcasters and newspapers said that it concerned a Russian space-related nuclear system, not yet deployed, that could endanger American and allied satellites. What could this be?

Much of the initial reporting is contradictory, with some outlets describing a nuclear-powered spacecraft and others a nuclear-armed one. There are essentially three options: a “pop-up” nuclear weapon designed to destroy satellites, which would be stationed on the ground and launched only when it was about to be used; a nuclear weapon that would be stationed in orbit; or a nuclear-powered satellite which would not be a bomb itself, but instead used nuclear energy to power some other sort of device.