[(Title)] Mystery Russian satellite's behaviour raises alarm in US.

A mysterious Russian satellite displaying "very abnormal behaviour" has raised alarm in the US, according to a State Department official.

据美国国务院一位官员透露，一颗“行为非常不正常”的神秘俄罗斯卫星在美国引起了恐慌。

"We don't know for certain what it is and there is no way to verify it," said assistant secretary Yleem Poblete at a conference in Switzerland on 14 August.

8月14日，助理部长叶姆波布莱特在瑞士举行的一次会议上说：“我们不确定它是什么，也无法对其进行核实。”

She voiced fears that it was impossible to say if the object may be a weapon.

如果物体是武器，就不可能说出来，她对此表示担心。

Russia has dismissed the comments as "unfounded, slanderous accusations based on suspicions".

俄罗斯否认这些评论，认为是“基于怀疑的无稽诽谤指控”。

The satellite in question was launched in October last year.

该卫星于去年10月发射。

"[The satellite's] behaviour on-orbit was inconsistent with anything seen before from on-orbit inspection or space situational awareness capabilities, including other Russian inspection satellite activities," Ms Poblete told the conference on disarmament in Switzerland.

“（这颗卫星）在轨的行为与以往的在轨行为或从空间态势感知能力中看到的任何情况都不一样，和俄罗斯其他视察卫星的活动也不一样。”波布莱特女士向瑞士裁军会议表示。

"Russian intentions with respect to this satellite are unclear and are obviously a very troubling development," she added, citing recent comments made by the commander of Russia's Space Forces, who said adopting "new prototypes of weapons" was a key objective for the force.

“俄罗斯发射这颗卫星的意图尚不清楚，这显然是一个非常令人不安的发展。”她补充道，还引用了俄罗斯太空部队指挥官最近关于采用“新的武器原型”是该部队关键目标的评论。

Ms Poblete said that the US had "serious concerns" that Russia was developing anti-satellite weapons.

波布莱特女士说，美国“非常担忧”俄罗斯正在研发反卫星武器。

Alexander Deynko, a senior Russian diplomat, told the Reuters news agency that the comments were "the same unfounded, slanderous accusations based on suspicions, on suppositions and so on".

俄罗斯高级外交官亚历山大·德恩科告诉路透社，这些评论是“基于怀疑、假设等的同样毫无根据的诽谤指控”。

He called on the US to contribute to a Russian-Chinese treaty that seeks to prevent an arms race in space.

他呼吁美国为寻求防止太空军备竞赛的俄中条约做出贡献。

Space weapons may be designed to cause damage in more subtle ways than traditional weapons like guns, which could cause a lot of debris in orbit, explained Alexandra Stickings, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute.

皇家联合服务研究所的研究分析师亚历山德拉•斯廷奇斯解释说，太空武器可能会比传统武器（如枪支）造成更微妙的伤害——可能导致轨道上产生大量碎片。

"[Such weapons may include] lasers or microwave frequencies that could just stop [a satellite] working for a time, either disable it permanently without destroying it or disrupt it via jamming," she said.

她说：“（这类武器可能包括）激光或微波频率可以让（卫星）停止工作一段时间，要么使其永久丧失功能，要么通过干扰使其遭受破坏。

But it was difficult to know what technology is available because so much information on space-based capabilities is classified, she added.

但她补充说，很难知道有哪些技术可用，因为关于太空能力的大量信息都是机密。

She also said it would be very difficult to prove that any event causing interference in space was an intentional, hostile action by a specific nation state.

她还说，很难证明某个干扰太空的事件是某个国家充满故意、敌对的行为。

Ms Poblete's comments were particularly interesting in light of President Donald Trump's decision to launch a sixth branch of the US armed forces named Space Force, added Ms Stickings.

斯廷奇斯补充道，鉴于唐纳德·特朗普总统决定推出名为太空部队的美国第六军队，波布莱特女士的评论特别有趣。

"The narrative coming from the US is, 'space was really peaceful, now look at what the Russians and Chinese are doing' - ignoring the fact that the US has developed its own capabilities."

“来自美国的说法是‘太空的确是和平的，现在看看俄罗斯人和中国人在做什么’——这忽视了美国发展自身能力的事实。”

The BBC has asked the UK's Ministry of Defence for comment.

英国广播公司已要求英国国防部发表评论。