Are there nuclear weapons hidden in space? Scientists think they've worked it out

There are concerns a Russian satellite could be holding nuclear weapons in space.

A US government official warned in 2024 Russia could be developing, or maybe have even already developed, such a satellite after a suspicious Russian satellite was sent into low-Earth orbit in early 2022, weeks before the country invaded Ukraine.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits putting nuclear weapons in space but there's not currently a way to check if this is indeed the case and there's no unclassified research on this either.

But a scientist at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) has proposed a way to find out if satellites contain nuclear weapons, according to a release from the institute.

In a new paper published in Nature, MIT Professor Areg Danagoulian proposed an idea for a satellite-based sensor system that could orbit close by a suspicious satellite and detect neutrons generated by high-energy protons colliding with radioactive material.

He theorises a sensor system the size of a large encyclopedia could detect a nuclear weapon with 99 per cent accuracy in space if it orbited within 4,000 meters of the satellite for a week.

This detection time could be cut to just hours if multiple sensors were used or if a sensor could get even closer to it.

A suspicious Russian satellite was spotted weeks before the Ukraine war started / Roman PILIPEY / AFP via Getty Images

Danagoulian said: "If we eventually have some verification mechanisms for the Outer Space Treaty, that will put pressure on countries to respect the treaty or disclose what they are doing because they know if they try to violate it, we will find out.

"I very much hope this will turn into a real system, or proof-of-concept system, but the goal right now is to get national labs to use this work for their own research and to get policymakers to seriously consider this technology as a potential part of national technical means."

Danagoulian also commented on the suspicious Russian satellite.

"The Russians launched this satellite in a very strange and unusual orbit because it goes through the most hostile environment possible around the planet," he said.

"No one puts satellites there because it's highly radioactive. Why would you put a satellite in that orbit? Well, that location is likely the best point for trapping electrons if you were to detonate a thermonuclear weapon."

To be clear, it's currently unconfirmed if the Russian satellite mentioned does contain nuclear weapons.

Danagoulian work was supported, in part, by the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Carnegie Foundation and Longview Philanthropy.

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