By Wonderwall.com Editors
5:51pm PST, Feb 20, 2024
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Between news of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death and Donald Trump's claim he'd "encourage" Russia to attack certain NATO countries, it's no wonder an Ohio Congressman's "security threat" warning about space, nuclear weapons and Moscow has sparked some anxiety.
Whether that anxiety is warranted — well, that's another story.
On Feb. 14, House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner stunned and irked his fellow leaders in Washington when he called for the White House to declassify intelligence "concerning a national security threat."
Multiple news outlets soon reported the "threat" was related to potential Russian advancements in space-based weapons technology, a matter long considered to be highly sensitive intelligence information.
In the days that followed, the White House, members of Congress, defense experts and others assured the public there is "no reason to panic," as Jim Himes put it.
While reports surfaced indicating Russia does appear to have been developing the ability to target U.S. (and other) satellites from space, government officials with knowledge of the matter told NBC News the "threat is a Russian nuclear-powered space asset that could be weaponized," not "a nuclear bomb that Russia is trying to send into space."
Keep reading for more details on Mike Turner's warning, then click through for reactions from both sides of the political aisle and beyond …
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"Today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat," House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Turner said in a statement on Feb. 14, per TheHill.com.
"I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat."
The evening before he published the statement, Turner reportedly notified colleagues his committee had voted on the accessibility of "an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability that should be known by all Congressional Policy Makers."
President Joe Biden weighed in on Feb. 16…
MORE: Alexei Navalny reportedly dead at 47 in Russian prison: Leaders and moe react
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Asked if he was worried about Russia's potential nuclear advancements in space on Feb. 16, President Joe Biden assured reporters that the technology advancements in Russia represent "no nuclear threat" on earth.
"First of all, there is no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world with what Russia is doing at the moment, No. 1," he said at the White House after commenting on the death of vocal Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny, according to NBC News.
"No. 2, anything they're doing or they will do relates to satellites in space and damaging those satellites potentially," the president continued. "No. 3, there's no evidence they've made a decision to go forward with anything in space either."
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House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed those sentiments in a statement of his own: "I saw Chairman Turner's statement on the issue and I want to assure the American people there's no need for public alarm," he said, according to the outlet. "We are going to work together to address this matter, as we do all sensitive matters that are classified."
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"I had put on the books days ago a meeting with House leadership on this to be able to talk to them privately," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told NPR's "Morning Edition" in a Feb. 15 interview. "When we deal with serious threats like this that involve highly sensitive intelligence we like to do so behind closed doors."
The outlet noted the U.S., Russia and China all have the ability to attack satellites but remain barred from deploying nuclear weapons in space by the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
"It would violate long standing international obligations of Russia, but I can't go further than that today given the limitations on what I can share," Sullivan said when asked if the technology in question would violate the treaty.
As for the Congressional discussion of the matter, "It was a bipartisan meeting," he said.
"People focused — both Democrats and Republicans — on the substance, not on the politics or the public Sturm und Drang [turmoil], and I think we emerged with a good understanding of the way forward."
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Speaking to press at a White House briefing on Feb. 15, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the "threat" in question is "related to an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing," NBC reported.
"First, this is not an active capability that's been deployed, and though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety," Kirby said.
"We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth. That said, we've been closely monitoring this Russian activity and we will continue to take it very seriously."
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Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, a Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement that the reference his colleague was making is important but far from dire.
"The classified intelligence product that the House Intelligence Committee called to the attention of Members last night is a significant one, but it is not a cause for panic," he said, per Space.com. "As to whether more can be declassified about this issue, that is a worthwhile discussion but it is not a discussion to be had in public."
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"It is obvious that the White House is trying, by hook or by crook, to push Congress to vote on the bill to allocate money," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told NBC News. "We'll see what tricks the White House will resort to."
The outlet noted Peskov appeared to be referencing Mike Turner's campaign for more support for Ukraine as it fights off Russia when he mentioned "money."
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The same day Rep. Mike Turner's comments sparked widespread concern about potential Russian aggression in space, the U.S. Space Force launched satellites designed to detect and track missile launches, Space.com reported.
According to The New York Times, the Pentagon's "missile-tracking system" is "part of a vast new effort to bolster the military's growing presence in space."
As Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks, explained at U.S. Space Command in January, "For a long time, you could count our space constellations by the handful — satellites the size of school buses that took decades to buy and build, years to launch."
Now, however, the U.S. is transitioning towards "proliferated constellations of smaller, resilient, lower-cost satellites" that launch more frequently, Hicks said.
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Elon Musk's SpaceX has played a significant role in that shift.
This photo shows a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from launch pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center with the Intuitive Machines' Nova-C moon lander mission, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 15, 2024.
The IM-1 mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, aimed at learning more about the Moon's surface ahead of the coming Artemis missions.
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Here's another view of of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 15.
The Pentagon's SpaceX-assisted launch was not explicitly related to the Russian technology Rep. Mike Turner referenced.
But according to The New York Times, the U.S. has initiated new approaches in defending systems of "communications, surveillance and GPS" in response to "advances in Russian and Chinese capabilities in space."
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Space Force Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, pictured here, gave the keynote speech at the Space Mobility Conference at the Orange County Convention Center on Jan. 30, 2024.
The United States' Space Force, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Air Force, recently overhauled its operations in an effort to boost "superiority," according to a Feb. 12 press release.
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A Space Futures Command is among the new enhancements to Space Force operations in the planned overhaul.
In this photo, Space Force first lieutenant Michael Conklin works on the static fire test of the Vulcan rocket with Rick Brace, program support manager, from the control room at the Morrell Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 7, 2023.
