--- title: "Russian Nuclear Spacecraft Would Reportedly Attack With Massive Energy Wave" description: "CNN reports that Russia is working on a nuclear-powered spacecraft designed to generate a huge energy wave that would knock out satellites." date: "2024-02-17" modified: "2024-02-17" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-nuclear-spacecraft-attacks-energy" categories: - "Energy" - "Off-World" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "military" - "Russia" - "space" - "the digest" --- # Russian Nuclear Spacecraft Would Reportedly Attack With Massive Energy Wave ![CNN reports that Russia is working on a nuclear-powered spacecraft designed to generate a huge energy wave that would knock out satellites.]() *\Image: Paul Cooklin / Getty Images\* ## Space Wars In a fascinating new update to the murky Congressional scandal involving a purported in-development Russian attack spacecraft, *CNN* has [spoken to three anonymous sources]() familiar with intelligence about the weapon. As a refresher, Washington lit up this week when a member of the House Intelligence Committee [made cryptic references]() to a "national security threat" that had something to do with an orbital nuclear weapon Russia was working on. Officials pushed back moderately on the drama, acknowledging the existence of intelligence about the weapon but saying it was not yet operational. "There is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby [told reporters](). "It is not an active capability and it has not yet been deployed." Now, *CNN*'s reporting locks in new details on the weapon, with its sources saying it's a nuclear-powered and space-based device designed to generate a huge energy wave that would knock out vast numbers of satellites that the world down below depends on for infrastructure. ## Orbital Graveyard It's worth noting that the concept isn't particularly novel — you've probably heard of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon in sci-fi — though the implications of a real one, wielded by a belligerent nation, certainly are alarming. "It’s not a new concept and, as a concept, dates back to the late Cold War," one US official told *CNN*. But they said that the "big fear with any eventual EMP device in orbit \[is\] it might render large portions of particular orbits unusable" by creating a debris field of derelict satellites that "would then prove dangerous to any new satellites we might try to put up to replace or repair the existing satellites." It's a terrifying concept. If there's a silver lining, it's that Russia's capability to actually execute such an ambitious plan remain somewhat hazy. The country's space program, after all, is in [complete shambles](), with failures and dysfunction accumulating [left]() and [right](). And its nuclear capabilities are in question as well. As *CNN* pointed out, back in 2019 a mysterious accident took place in which [seven Russians died]() while trying to test a new type of nuclear-propelled cruise missile. **More on space warfare:** [*Generate Says Space Force Should Stop Waffling and Build Epic Space Weapons*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()