The United States accused Russia this week of testing a weapon that could be used to destroy satellites in space, something Moscow denied, noting that what it launched was a "special device" for testing Russian equipment in orbit.
Regardless of the type of missile, the developments constitute a rare military escalation of Washington in space. Until now, a satellite had the ability to attack the last mere theory.
The United States, Russia and China could, and since 2019 India, target satellites with missiles launched from the ground, but this type of bombing causes millions of pieces of debris in orbit, which prompted the world's powers to refrain from such tests.
It can be considered that this week's incident carries a message to Washington, which is establishing, under President Donald Trump, a new "space force" in its army.
The commander of the Space Force, General Jay Raymond, stressed on Friday that "space is a field for waging wars just like air, land and sea."
In November 2019, Russia launched the "Cosmos 2542" satellite. A week later, this satellite surprised observers when it launched a sub satellite, "Cosmos 2543" capable of maneuvering into orbit to monitor, search or spy on other satellites.
This sub satellite has come close to approaching an American spy satellite, the "USA-225", and from another Russian satellite. And a chase game began in orbit that could have been easily pursued from Earth by astronomers and the US military, who publicly expressed concern.
On July 15 at about 0750 GMT, "Cosmos 2543" (the sub-satellite with a flat surface less than square meters according to the US military) launched a relatively high velocity estimated at two hundred meters per second, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell.
"Body E", as the United States called it, is still in orbit and does not seem to collide with anything. Its size, shape, and purpose are still vague, but that does not mean lessening the threat it may pose.
Satellites circling orbit in a vacuum at tens of thousands of kilometers per hour. The smallest contact with any other object carries the risk of causing a gap in its solar panels, damaging it, or even destroying it, depending on the size of the object that collided with it.
So the difference between a satellite and a weapon is theoretical in space, as whatever the "body E" task is, it is actually a "shell" and thus a "weapon", according to the United States.
This equates to a "bullet" in space, according to US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation Christopher Ford.
And he said, "There is no such thing as a small accident there," that is, in space.
Russia implicitly acknowledged this by accusing Washington and London of having inspection or repair programs for satellites that could be used as "anti-satellite weapons."
The United States has military satellites that can maneuver into orbit and can launch smaller satellites. But it is still unclear whether the United States has the ability to launch high-speed projectiles, as did the Russians recently, according to space security expert Brian Weiden in Washington.
"But they can probably do this if they want to," he told AFP.
Weiden stressed that "Russia may be trying to convey a strategic message about the potential to endanger American regimes." It is reported that spy satellites are huge, very expensive and rare.
He added that Russia relies much less than the United States on satellites and its satellites are less expensive.
The commander of the American Space Force confirmed that Friday, noting that since the early nineties of the last century, the entire American army, from warplanes to infantry, has relied on space-based technology for navigation, communications and intelligence.
General Raymond said: "We are not doing anything that does not turn on space every step."
The United States and Russia will have the opportunity to hold direct talks next week in Vienna, during the first meeting between the two countries on space security since 2013.