UK Media: German Company Aims to Develop "Unlimited Range" Space Missile

According to a report by Reference News Network on November 8, the British newspaper The Times reported on November 5 that a German technology company is developing a "global unlimited range" space-based weapon that could theoretically strike any target within Russia.

This weapon is called the Precision Orbital Deep Strike (PODS) system, which includes a conventional warhead that is launched from a satellite and housed within a re-entry vehicle with protective layers to prevent it from burning up due to atmospheric friction during descent.

This innovative combat capability is being developed by the German company Atomos Space Cargo. The company was originally established to help clients send cargo into space for purposes such as biomedical research or experimental manufacturing, and to safely return the cargo to the ground.

The company's CEO, Sebastian Klaus, is a veteran of the German special forces. He stated that after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the company began researching the military applications of this technology.

Although the project is still in its early stages, it is far from sounding as bizarre as it seems. The U.S. military announced in September that it possesses "on-orbit space control weapons," but did not elaborate on which systems are deployed on satellites.

Two weeks ago, the U.S. Air Force also revealed that it has tested the capability to deliver cargo over long distances through space using rockets and re-entry vehicles.

This is a secret project called "Starfall," developed by the large American company SpaceX, aimed at delivering up to one ton of military equipment to any location on Earth. Several smaller American startups are also developing competing technologies along similar lines.

A senior European military commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that European armies are keenly interested in Germany's PODS technology, but there are also some concerns. The source stated, "I wouldn't rule out the possibility. If you have a re-entry vehicle, then the only question left is what payload to carry inside."

Klaus mentioned that the company's next step is to seek larger defense industry partners, such as the European missile manufacturer MBDA. This would not only help the company scale up production from the prototype phase but also address several tricky "political and legal" issues surrounding the weapon.

The multinational company MBDA is a core participant in the joint planning conducted by the UK and Germany under the bilateral Trident Defense Agreement. The joint planning includes the development of two new precision strike weapons with a range of at least 2,000 kilometers, one being a low-altitude cruise missile and the other a high-altitude hypersonic glide vehicle. Currently, it is believed that the PODS program does not fall under the scope of the Trident Defense Agreement.

Guido Brendler, senior vice president of MBDA, stated that the company is researching "space combat capabilities," but further "operational effectiveness analysis" is needed to assess whether such systems are technically feasible and meaningful.

However, this technology faces significant obstacles. The first obstacle is that Europe is very cautious about deploying weapons in space. The second is the legal uncertainties. Currently, activities in Earth orbit and beyond are theoretically governed by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the placement of nuclear warheads and weapons of mass destruction in space.

It is still unclear whether space-based missiles are technically feasible and whether they are economically viable as an alternative to traditional deep strike weapons. A military source mentioned that the flight trajectory of such weapons is relatively easy for adversaries to detect and track.

However, this concept proves that NATO's mindset has undergone a profound shift: if Russia were to wage war against NATO, NATO would be willing to consider striking targets deep within Russia. (Translated by Qing Songzhu)