A nuclear explosion in space could disable up to a third of the satellites in low Earth orbit.
Major General Michael Traut, commander of the Bundeswehr Space Command, has stated this in an interview with Politico.
The military commander assessed the likelihood of russia deploying nuclear weapons in space as an extreme escalation scenario.
"At the very top end of escalation, there is the suspicion that Russia may be working on technology to place a nuclear explosive device in orbit," the general said.
When asked if he considers such a scenario realistic, the commander replied: “I cannot rule it out.”
According to Traut, a nuclear explosion in space would not look like a conventional strike on Earth, but its consequences could be devastating for modern societies and militaries that rely on satellites for communications, navigation, banking, transportation, weather forecasting, and military targeting.
"If something similar to Starfish Prime happened today,” Traut said, referring to a 1962 U.S. high-altitude nuclear test, “up to one-third of all satellites in low-Earth orbit” could stop functioning over the following weeks and months.
This, he said, would exacerbate the problem of space debris and increase the risk of cascading collisions—the so-called Kessler effect.
"It is even conceivable that certain orbital altitudes would no longer be usable for decades," Traut warned.
The Bundeswehr commander noted that threats in space have “massively developed” in recent years—from GPS jamming and lasers to physical attacks on satellites.
Electromagnetic interference and laser attacks are already a daily reality at the lowest level of escalation.
“The best example is GPS jamming in the Baltic region,” Traut said, adding that this affects civil aviation and maritime traffic.
Germany’s response, according to Traut, cannot be restrained.
“You don’t go into the arena only with a shield. A functioning deterrent always has an active, offensive component,” he emphasized.
The general clarified that “offensive does not mean aggressive,” but Germany must be able to seize the initiative in a conflict. This includes actions against the enemy’s space systems—not necessarily in orbit, but across the entire infrastructure that supports satellite operations, from ground stations to jammers.
The Bundeswehr plans to acquire:
- non-kinetic systems, including jammers and lasers;
- inspection satellites;
- over the long term – spaceplanes to protect German satellites, inspect enemy systems, and carry out potential actions against them.
Berlin also plans to establish a sovereign military satellite communications constellation as part of the SATCOMBw 4 program—it is intended to meet the Bundeswehr’s growing demand for secure connectivity.
Traut emphasized that the program will not compete with the European Union’s IRIS² secure communications system.
“We do not see IRIS² as competition, but as a complementary addition,” the commander said.
According to him, Germany’s own constellation will relieve the burden on the EU system and leave more bandwidth available for others.
Berlin also plans to involve “as many European partners as possible” in using the network, especially countries that are unable or unwilling to build their own satellite constellation.
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