Ukraine has tested near-space interceptor systems and wants to put them into production
A Ukrainian lawmaker says the country has already demonstrated launches of exo-atmospheric systems and is working to produce them. Kyiv is seeking answers to Russia's Oreshnik missile and its dependence on Starlink.
Ukraine has tested systems designed to destroy targets in near space several times and now wants to move them into production, The Guardian reported. Fedir Venislavskyi, who chairs the state security subcommittee of the Ukrainian parliament's defense committee, confirmed the effort. Kyiv is looking for answers to two problems: Russia's Oreshnik ballistic missile and its reliance on the Starlink satellite communications network.
"It is a priority," Venislavskyi said. "We've already demonstrated launches of exo-atmospheric systems and we are working to see if we can get that in production." The Guardian did not say when the tests took place.
The Oreshnik threat
The missile climbs into near space and then releases several independently targetable warheads. The Guardian noted that Moscow has used it at least three times. Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service said in January that Russia planned serial production of the Oreshnik in 2026, at five or more a year.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in October that Ukraine had received only 24 Patriot interceptors from the US over 90 days. Oleg Katkov, editor-in-chief of Defense Express, said Patriot could in theory target the separated warheads, but in practice that is unlikely because the system can track and engage only a limited number of targets at once.
Starlink and a sovereign satellite network
Venislavskyi said Ukraine saw communications drop, jeopardising its military's command-and-control systems. From 14 October, Starlink and its military version, Starshield, cut out on Ukrainian platforms moving faster than about 161 km/h, until Zelenskyy said on 24 October that speeds had been restored.
Earlier in October, Ukrainian company Himera and Denmark's GomSpace launched Obria Nano, a test satellite for a planned sovereign network of reportedly about 245 satellites.
Strikes on Russia's space industry
On 15 August, Ukraine's General Staff said its forces struck the Progress Rocket and Space Center in Samara, which makes the Soyuz-2 rockets that carry Russia's Rassvet satellites. Samara Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev claimed a missile hit an unnamed industrial enterprise. Separately, Fire Point co-founder Denys Shtilerman wrote on X in August that the company plans a full-scale launch of its own anti-ballistic interceptor by mid-2027.
