A Russian spacecraft launched higher than most satellites has long had the Pentagon worried — and new revelations about what it contains have made those concerns all the greater.

Launched in February 2022 just a few weeks before Ukraine was invaded, Russia's Cosmos 2553 spacecraft is nominally built to test out "newly developed onboard instruments and systems." According to new reporting from the New York Times, however, the mysterious satellite system contains a "dummy warhead" — a precursor of what could come should the Russians decide to arm the craft for real.