Latest news with #outerspace
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
North Korea threatens nuclear war in SPACE as it joins Russia and China in condemning Trump's $175billion Golden Dome missile defence system
North Korea has warned that a nuclear war could erupt in space, as it joined Russia and China in condemning US president Donald Trump 's futuristic vision of a 'Golden Dome' missile defence system. The $175billion (£129billion) project, proposed by Trump and inspired by Israel 's Iron Dome system, is aimed at blocking threats from adversaries like China and Russia. But Pyongyang's foreign ministry said Trump's plan risks turning 'outer space into a potential nuclear war field' and called it 'the height of self-righteousness [and] arrogance.' It accused the US of being 'hell-bent... to militarise outer space' and starkly warned that the programme could spark a 'a global nuclear and space arms race.' Earlier today, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Trump's project undermines the foundations of strategic stability as it involves the creation of a global missile defence system. And last week, Beijing said it was 'seriously concerned' about the Golden Dome, which it said has 'strong offensive implications'. China's foreign ministry said: 'The United States, in pursuing a "US-first" policy, is obsessed with seeking absolute security for itself. 'This violates the principle that the security of all countries should not be compromised and undermines global strategic balance and stability.' This picture taken on May 8, 2025 shows a joint striking drill of long-range artillery and missile systems of the Korean People's Army eastern front division at an undisclosed location in North Korea North Korea has threatened to start a nuclear war in space, after joining Russia and China in slamming US president Donald Trump's (pictured) futuristic vision of a 'Golden Dome' missile defence system Kim Jong Un speaks during a launching ceremony of a new naval destroyer at a western port in Nampo, North Korea, on April 25, 2025 Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP that Kim Jong Un likely sees Trump's Golden Dome as a threat that can "significantly weaken" its nuclear arsenal. 'If the US completes its new missile defence programme, the North will be forced to develop alternative means to counter or penetrate it,' he said. In April, Kim Jong Un unveiled a nuclear-capable naval destroyer that he says will bolster North Korea's ability to defend itself in the face of perceived aggression from the US and its regional allies. The North Korean leader attended the warship's launch ceremony at the western port of Nampo with his teenage daughter Kim Ju Ae, according to state-run media. Ju Ae has been widely regarded by analysts as the likely successor to Kim since she was referred to as a 'great person of guidance' in an official report last year. Kim said the 5,000-ton vessel would bolster efforts to expand the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military. The 'multi-purpose' destroyer, designed to handle a variety of arms including nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles, was touted as the first in a new class of heavily armed warships. Kim, who has framed the arms buildup as a response to the supposed danger posed by the US and its allies in Asia, said the destroyer would be handed over to the navy early next year before beginning active duty. According to state media, Kim has said the 5,000-ton vessel will bolster efforts to expand the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military Jo Chun Ryong, a secretary in the ruling Workers' party, claimed the ship was equipped with the 'most powerful weapons' and was built 'within 400-odd days'. Kim also took aim at efforts by the US and South Korea to expand joint military exercises and update their nuclear deterrence strategies, which he portrayed as preparations for war. He vowed to 'respond decisively to this geopolitical crisis and ongoing developments,' the Korean Central News Agency reported.
The Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
North Korea says Donald Trump's Golden Dome plan threatens ‘outer space nuclear war'
In a memorandum issued by the foreign ministry's Institute for American Studies, North Korea described the plans as a "threatening initiative", not a defensive measure, aimed at securing military superiority and threatening nuclear-armed adversaries, according to state media KCNA. The Golden Dome plan"is a typical product of ' America first', the height of self-righteousness, arrogance, high-handed and arbitrary practice, and is an outer space nuclear war scenario," it said, urging the international community to speak out against the plan. Seven days after his inauguration in January, Mr Trump issued the ' Iron Dome for America ' executive order to create a cutting-edge defence system that protects the US from long-range missile attacks. Last week he revealed that his administration has settled on a design for the system, which he said will be operational within three years. The president appointed Michael Guetlein, the current vice chief of space operations, to lead the project. The project has been estimated to cost $175bn to the US, and the Congressional Budget Office earlier this month estimated that it could go up to between $161bn and $542bn over two decades. The North Korean memorandum called it 'the largest arms buildup plan in history', and said it threatened the global security environment. North Korea said US has been 'hell-bent on the moves to militarise outer space' after previously defining outer space as a battlefield in the future. 'The US plan for building a new missile defence system is the root cause of sparking off a global nuclear and space arms race by stimulating the security concerns of nuclear weapons states and turning outer space into a potential nuclear war field,' it added. It argued that the US's continued trilateral military cooperation with its allies Japan and South Korea is an effort to use them as 'cannon fodder and bullet shields to pursue its own interests'. 'We resolutely oppose the United States' criminal ambition to use outer space for hegemonic purposes,' it added. 'We will continue to exercise our sovereign right to defend our strategic security interests and ensure regional peace and security.' North Korea's criticism of the US missile defence initiative comes amid its own expanding nuclear weapons programme, with Pyongyang continuing to carry out hundreds of missile tests in open defiance of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Despite international sanctions, including a 2006 UN Security Council order banning its development of nuclear weapons and related activities, North Korea has tested multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). In October 2024, North Korea conducted its latest test of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, recording the longest flight in the process. The slew of frequent missile tests has prompted the US, South Korea and Japan to boost their military cooperation, including annual joint defence drills in the Korean peninsula. China last week said it was also "seriously concerned" about the Golden Dome project and called for Washington to abandon its development.
Malay Mail
7 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
North Korea warns Trump's ‘Golden Dome' missile shield plans could trigger ‘nuclear war' in space
SEOUL, May 27 — North Korea slammed today US President Donald Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile shield plan as a 'very dangerous' threat that could spark nuclear war in space, state media said. Trump announced new details and initial funding for the missile shield system last week, calling it 'very important for the success and even survival of our country'. The initiative faces significant technical and political challenges, according to analysts, and could come at a hefty price tag. In a statement shared by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang's foreign ministry slammed the 'very dangerous 'threatening initiative' aimed at threatening the strategic security of the nuclear weapons states'. The United States is 'hell-bent on the moves to militarise outer space,' the foreign ministry said. 'The US plan for building a new missile defence system is the root cause of sparking off global nuclear and space arms race by stimulating the security concerns of nuclear weapons states and turning... outer space into a potential nuclear war field,' it added. Washington — Seoul's key security ally — has in recent years ramped up joint military exercises and increased the presence of strategic US assets, such as an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine, in the region to deter the North. People sit in front of a television as file footage of a North Korean missile launch is broadcast during the news, at a railway station in Seoul May 22, 2025.— AFP pic Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an 'irreversible' nuclear weapons state and routinely denounces joint US-South Korea drills as rehearsals for invasion. Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP that Pyongyang saw Trump's 'Golden Dome' as a threat. 'The North's strong reaction suggests it views the Golden Dome as capable of significantly weakening the effectiveness of its nuclear arsenal, including its ICBMs,' he said. 'If the US completes its new missile defence programme, the North will be forced to develop alternative means to counter or penetrate it,' he added. China, Russia modernising weapons China has also expressed strong concerns about Washington's Golden Dome plan, accusing the United States of undermining global stability. Beijing is closing the gap with Washington when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow is modernising its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, according to a 2022 Pentagon review. The Kremlin has said Trump's initiative would require consultations with Russia but was otherwise a 'sovereign matter' for the United States, softening its tone after also previously slamming the idea as destabilising. The plan's Golden Dome name stems from Israel's Iron Dome air defence system which has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets and other projectiles since it went into operation in 2011. The United States faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel's Iron Dome is designed to counter. — AFP
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Does outer space end – or go on forever?
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you'd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@ What is beyond outer space? – Siah, age 11, Fremont, California Right above you is the sky – or as scientists would call it, the atmosphere. It extends about 20 miles (32 kilometers) above the Earth. Floating around the atmosphere is a mixture of molecules – tiny bits of air so small you take in billions of them every time you breathe. Above the atmosphere is space. It's called that because it has far fewer molecules, with lots of empty space between them. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel to outer space – and then keep going? What would you find? Scientists like me are able to explain a lot of what you'd see. But there are some things we don't know yet, like whether space just goes on forever. At the beginning of your trip through space, you might recognize some of the sights. The Earth is part of a group of planets that all orbit the Sun – with some orbiting asteroids and comets mixed in, too. You might know that the Sun is actually just an average star, and looks bigger and brighter than the other stars only because it is closer. To get to the next nearest star, you would have to travel through trillions of miles of space. If you could ride on the fastest space probe NASA has ever made, it would still take you thousands of years to get there. If stars are like houses, then galaxies are like cities full of houses. Scientists estimate there are 100 billion stars in Earth's galaxy. If you could zoom out, way beyond Earth's galaxy, those 100 billion stars would blend together – the way lights of city buildings do when viewed from an airplane. Recently astronomers have learned that many or even most stars have their own orbiting planets. Some are even like Earth, so it's possible they might be home to other beings also wondering what's out there. You would have to travel through millions of trillions more miles of space just to reach another galaxy. Most of that space is almost completely empty, with only some stray molecules and tiny mysterious invisible particles scientists call 'dark matter.' Using big telescopes, astronomers see millions of galaxies out there – and they just keep going, in every direction. If you could watch for long enough, over millions of years, it would look like new space is gradually being added between all the galaxies. You can visualize this by imagining tiny dots on a deflated balloon and then thinking about blowing it up. The dots would keep moving farther apart, just like the galaxies are. If you could keep going out, as far as you wanted, would you just keep passing by galaxies forever? Are there an infinite number of galaxies in every direction? Or does the whole thing eventually end? And if it does end, what does it end with? These are questions scientists don't have definite answers to yet. Many think it's likely you would just keep passing galaxies in every direction, forever. In that case, the universe would be infinite, with no end. Some scientists think it's possible the universe might eventually wrap back around on itself – so if you could just keep going out, you would someday come back around to where you started, from the other direction. One way to think about this is to picture a globe, and imagine that you are a creature that can move only on the surface. If you start walking any direction, east for example, and just keep going, eventually you would come back to where you began. If this were the case for the universe, it would mean it is not infinitely big – although it would still be bigger than you can imagine. In either case, you could never get to the end of the universe or space. Scientists now consider it unlikely the universe has an end – a region where the galaxies stop or where there would be a barrier of some kind marking the end of space. But nobody knows for sure. How to answer this question will need to be figured out by a future scientist. Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you'd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@ Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you're wondering, too. We won't be able to answer every question, but we will do our best. This article has been updated to correct the distances to the nearest star and galaxy. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Jack Singal, University of Richmond Read more: The art of Aphantasia: how 'mind blind' artists create without being able to visualise Why your zodiac sign is probably wrong Why do people look into space with telescopes but not binoculars? Jack Singal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Trump's Golden Dome shows US ‘obsessed with absolute security', China says
US plans to build a new missile defence system would raise the risk of an arms race and could 'turn outer space into a battlefield', Beijing has warned, describing Washington as being 'obsessed with pursuing absolute security'. Advertisement Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the 'Golden Dome' missile defence system proposed by US President Donald Trump would entail a 'significant increase in outer space combat means', including research and development and the deployment of orbital interception systems. 02:48 Trump unveils Golden Dome defence system to counter Russian, Chinese missile threats Trump unveils Golden Dome defence system to counter Russian, Chinese missile threats 'This highly offensive system violates the principle of peaceful use of outer space. It will exacerbate the risks of turning outer space into a battlefield and starting an arms race, and shake the international security and arms control system,' she said on Wednesday. 'The United States, by putting itself first and being obsessed with pursuing absolute security, violates the principle of undiminished security of all countries and undermines global strategic balance and stability.' Mao's comments came a day after Trump laid out fresh details of his plan for the US$175 billion Golden Dome programme, a system proposed to protect the US from foreign attacks, including from China and Russia. US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and senators Kevin Cramer and Dan Sullivan attend President Donald Trump's announcement on the Golden Dome on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE Trump said on Tuesday that he had selected a design for the shield and named a US Space Force general to lead the programme, saying the Golden Dome would 'protect our homeland'.
