Russian Scientist Proposes Satan Missiles to Fight Asteroid Threats

YEKATERINBURG, June 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia can use Soviet-era SS-18 Satan heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles to destroy celestial bodies posing a threat to Earth, a Russian scientist said on Sunday, four months after a powerful meteor struck Russia’s Urals region.

“Carrier rockets created on the basis of intercontinental ballistic missiles like Voyevoda [the Soviet name of Satan missiles], which use standard liquid fuel based on hydrazine, are well-suited for fighting suddenly discovered small [space] objects,” said Sabit Saitgarayev, a senior researcher at the State Rocket Design Center in the city of Miass in the Chelyabinsk Region.
“They [missiles] can stay in the condition of their readiness for launch for ten and more years, after some reequipping,” the scientist said.