Russia’s antisatellite technology poses no immediate threat, White House says

WASHINGTON — A White House spokesperson said Thursday that antisatellite technology being developed by Russia had not been deployed and posed “no immediate threat to anyone’s safety.”

“We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth,” the spokesperson, John F. Kirby, told reporters.

Kirby also pushed back on calls from Republicans to broadly declassify intelligence related to the weapon, which came to light Wednesday in part after a cryptic message by Rep. Michael R. Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

But on Thursday, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser; Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence; and a representative from the Pentagon told the leaders of the House, its intelligence committee and other national security panels said they had plans to divulge more information about what Turner called a “Russian antisatellite weapon.”

“The administration has the belief that along this way they’re going to be releasing additional information,” Turner said, “but in the interim, I’ve got great faith in what the administration is currently doing to address this matter.”

Speaker Mike Johnson noted that senior members of Congress had been made aware of the matter in January, and that he had subsequently requested, in writing, to speak to President Joe Biden about it — a meeting that has not yet materialized.

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