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Issue 50

02 Flash Archive · Members Only

The Russian Space Threat and Active Defense Options

13 Jun 2022: Matthew Mowthorpe examines Russia's ASAT concepts and places them in the context of military space doctrine that threatens both US and NATO allies' satellites. Further the article describes the development of the concept of a bodyguard satellite. The Threat - Under Vladimir Putin, Russia reinvigorated…

Author Greg Gillinger Published August 8, 2025

13 Jun 2022: Matthew Mowthorpe examines Russia’s ASAT concepts and places them in the context of military space doctrine that threatens both US and NATO allies’ satellites. Further the article describes the development of the concept of a bodyguard satellite.

The Threat

– Under Vladimir Putin, Russia reinvigorated their political desire to obtain counterspace capabilities for the same reason as China – to advance its regional power and limit the ability of the US to counter Russia’s freedom of action.

– Russian military thought sees modern warfare as a struggle over information dominance and netcentric operations that can take place without clear boundaries.

-Russia’s goa is to incorporate EW capabilities throughout its military to both protect its own space-enabled capabilities and degrade or deny those capabilities to its adversary.

– In space, Russia is seeking to mitigate the superiority of US and NATO space assets by fielding a number of ground, air, and space-based offensive capabilities.

– Russia has a long history of developing space weapons. It has demonstrated a capability to kinetically intercept satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) from space and more recently from the ground in late 2021. Additionally, it can use ground-based lasers to dazzle satellites in LEO. Russia can conduct radiofrequency (RF) jamming from mobile platforms against communication satellites in LEO.

Active Defense: Bodyguard Satellites

– The concept of a Bodyguard satellite is a co-orbital satellite able to react against increasing threats to satellites in orbit. It offers continuous monitoring of the environment of approaching objects, provides indicator and warning of threats prior to attack, and characterization of range, source, and capabilities.

– Bodyguard satellites is part of what would be termed Active Defense. Active Defense can be divided into two categories based on where these defensive systems are based.

– Space-based defenses include onboard systems integrated into the satellites they protect, and offboard systems hosted on separate satellites such as Bodyguard satellites.

– Offboard defenses can be used to provide “zone defense” of multiple satellites or act as defensive patrols that roam within orbital regimes in response to threats. Terrestrial defenses are cross-domain systems based on Earth that target counterspace systems and the systems that support them either on Earth or in space.

– France has incorporated Bodyguard satellites into their space defense strategy and in July 2020 announced it could launch small bodyguard satellites and position them around French geostationary assets, to detect and prevent hostile approaches against them.

Space defenses both raise the expected costs and reduce the expected benefits of beginning or extending conflict into space. For space defenses to act as a deterrent, an opponent must believe such defenses exist and that they are effective, even if the opponent does not fully understand what they are or how effective they may be.

Illustration of Russian air-, ground-, and space-based counterspace concepts.

Illustration of Russian air-, ground-, and space-based counterspace concepts.

Concept illustration of bodyguard satellites providing active defense in orbit.

Concept illustration of bodyguard satellites providing active defense in orbit.