How Russia, China Envision Nuking US Satellites: From Above and Below

New America Strategist Peter W. Singer and David Chen wrote on China and Russia's anti-satellite efforts for Defense One:

Chinese and Russian interest in space nukes derives from their expressed anxiety over the U.S. strategy of deploying large and widely dispersed satellite constellations, such as the Space Development Agency’s “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture,” as well as commercial networks such as SpaceX’s Starlink communications satellites. SDA Director Derek Tournear has described his agency’s “proliferation” as a game-changing strategy of resilience, using numbers and architecture to keep U.S. space networks working despite single-point attacks via kinetic, directed-energy, or electromagnetic means. However, this has threatened the sense of “space deterrence” gained by China and Russia through their own investments in anti-satellite weapons. Using nuclear effects to hold entire orbital regimes at risk offers an alternative way to counter such proliferated constellations.

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