Overview
- The Associated Press reported that two NATO intelligence services suspect Russia is developing a pellet-based anti-satellite system designed to disrupt Starlink by saturating its orbital planes.
- The alleged 'zone-effect' concept would release hundreds of thousands of millimeter-scale, high-density pellets to disable multiple satellites at once.
- AP said it could not independently verify the intelligence, and an unnamed official described the program as in active development with no public deployment timeline.
- Experts warned the approach could create uncontrollable debris that threatens many nations' spacecraft, with potential knock-on risks to lower orbits including crewed stations.
- Reaction diverged: a Canadian space commander called the idea not implausible, France’s Space Command cited Russia’s recent hostile actions in space, and Russian state-linked voices dismissed the report as fabrication.