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Polyus was a Russian spacecraft launched in 1987, designed to be a counter to American anti-satellite weapons. Gorbachev forbade the Soviet military from testing its weapons in space, fearing that this would provoke the West, but this was moot in any case because the launch suffered a problem and Polyus crashed into the ocean before reaching orbit.
So what if it had been launched successfully?
I'm not sure if the bit on the Infallible Wikipedia about it being armed with nuclear mines is true (there's a Russian page, but I can't make out enough of it) but what would be the impact of the Soviets having such a weapons system in space?
And if everything else happens as OTL, could it perhaps be converted to civilian use for joint US-Russian projects like the Shuttle-Mir programme and the ISS?
So what if it had been launched successfully?
I'm not sure if the bit on the Infallible Wikipedia about it being armed with nuclear mines is true (there's a Russian page, but I can't make out enough of it) but what would be the impact of the Soviets having such a weapons system in space?
And if everything else happens as OTL, could it perhaps be converted to civilian use for joint US-Russian projects like the Shuttle-Mir programme and the ISS?