The latest
A group of defense experts in suburban Washington worked through a simulated crisis in which a nuclear weapon detonates in space, American satellites begin failing, and conflicts in Europe and Asia intensify. The tabletop exercise, organized by Fuse, was designed to test how the U.S. might respond to a space-based nuclear threat.
Details
• The scenario: Participants weighed crippled GPS, disrupted financial markets, attribution problems and the risk of escalation toward intercontinental missile exchanges.
• The organizer: Axios said the exercise was run by Fuse, a fusion-energy company, with guidance from a former Pentagon official and longtime nuclear scholar.
• Core issue: The exercise focused on radiation hardening, comparing a scenario where U.S. infrastructure was underprepared with one where Washington had built stronger defenses.
• Russian backdrop: Axios noted recent concerns that Russia has been exploring a nuclear anti-satellite weapon.
• Company message: Fuse founder and CEO JC Btaiche said war games help officials understand what the world could look like in the next 5 to 10 years.
Background
The U.S. conducted Starfish Prime, a high-altitude nuclear test in space, years after World War II. Today, satellites underpin navigation, communications, finance and military operations, making a space-based attack both a civilian and national-security crisis.
What to watch
Fuse expects to hold more of these exercises as it expands its radiation-testing work, including a New Mexico facility aimed at government agencies, defense programs and commercial space operators..
