New method for detecting atomic bombs on satellites

A new MIT feasibility study detects nuclear bombs in space. One constellation could identify nuclear satellites in just a few hours.

A scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a method to detect nuclear weapons on satellites. The sensor, about the size of a "large encyclopedia," measures the radiation from unexploded bombs. Analysis takes nearly a week at a distance of 4 kilometers, only an hour at 1,000 meters, and the observation time would be reduced to just 1 hour to identify a nuclear bomb with 99 percent certainty.

To enable faster detection, US researcher Areg Danagoulian proposes in his feasibility study a constellation of ten shoebox-sized microsatellites. These would reduce the measurement time from a distance of four kilometers to 15 hours. Upon detection, the military could block the enemy satellite's radio link to prevent remote detonation.

When the US detonated an atomic bomb at an altitude of 400 km in 1962, numerous satellites failed. Such a collapse would paralyze modern life today – in the age of GPS, digital banking, and global communication.

Scenario: Russia places a nuclear weapon in Earth orbit

The study uses a real incident: In 2022, the US accused Russia of using the Kosmos 2553 satellite to test components for a nuclear weapon due to its unusual shape. Moscow denied the accusations, stating that it was simply an Earth observation satellite placed in an orbit at an altitude of 2,000 kilometers; a region of intense cosmic radiation trapped by the Earth's magnetic field, known as the Van Allen belts, which extend from about 1,000 to tens of thousands of kilometers.

However, thermonuclear weapons contain a significant amount of uranium or plutonium as fission material. If another proton were to collide with the high-energy protons in the uranium, they would decay, essentially tearing the nucleus apart. Each proton would release approximately 40 neutrons—far more than a satellite without a nuclear weapon would. According to Danagoulian, this interaction with the high-energy space environment would transform the suspected satellite into a very intense neutron source.

How is the atomic bomb detector supposed to work?

To locate this source, the inspection spacecraft combines two detectors. The system uses 1,800-centimeter-diameter plastic cubes arranged in two parallel planes. Each cube is coated on the top and bottom with plates of crystalline carbon (synthetic diamond), which act as a shield against cosmic interference radiation. The inner plastic scintillator converts the sought-after particles into flashes of light, which are then electronically detected.

The two-layer design allows natural background radiation to be filtered out and the exact direction of neutron origin to be determined. This could help to monitor compliance with the Outer Space Treaty in the future.

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