Outer space

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet 'Death Star'

The ambitions of the United States and the Soviet Union, late in the Cold War, to launch massive weapons into outer space sounds like a fever dream today. Few however know just how serious it got, with the USSR making impressive progress on plans for a so-called “Red Death Star” to be launched into orbit.

Despite signing a 1972 anti–ballistic missile treaty with the United States, the USSR continued research into missile defense well into the 1970s. When President Ronald Reagan announced his "Star Wars" concept in March 1983—a moonshot-like missile shield that would render ICBMs obsolete—the Soviets were ready with a response.

Had it worked our world might be a different place. But the Red Death Star crashed and burned, the victim of a crash program undertaken by a failing power. Nonetheless, the project's purpose and technology lived on, and may darken the skies again.