The United States has assessed that Russia launched what is likely a counter space weapon last week that’s now in the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
"What I’m tracking here is on May 16, as you highlighted, Russia launched a satellite into low Earth orbit that we that we assess is likely a counter space weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit," Ryder said.
This footage shows video from the Russian Defense Ministry showing a military satellite launch into near-orbit.
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