--- title: MIT researcher proposes a way to detect nuclear weapons... description: MIT Professor Areg Danagoulian has published a paper in Nature proposing a satellite-based sensor system capable of detecting nuclear weapons aboard other... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/mit-researcher-proposes-a-way-to-detect-nuclear-weapons-in-space-raaghrtwa twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: MIT researcher proposes a way to detect nuclear weapons in space | daily.dev og:description: MIT Professor Areg Danagoulian has published a paper in Nature proposing a satellite-based sensor system capable of detecting nuclear weapons aboard other... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/mit-researcher-proposes-a-way-to-detect-nuclear-weapons-in-space-raaghrtwa og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/rAAGhrTWA.png og:image:alt: MIT researcher proposes a way to detect nuclear weapons in space og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # MIT researcher proposes a way to detect nuclear weapons in space **[MIT News](https://daily.dev/sources/mit)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MIT Professor Areg Danagoulian has published a paper in Nature proposing a satellite-based sensor system capable of detecting nuclear weapons aboard other satellites in orbit. The system exploits spallation — a reaction where high-energy protons collide with heavy radioactive elements like uranium or plutonium, releasing large numbers of neutrons. A detector satellite equipped with scintillator panels and diamond detectors could distinguish these neutrons from natural background radiation. Danagoulian calculates that a sensor the size of a large encyclopedia could achieve 99% detection accuracy within 4,000 meters over about a week, or within hours at 1,000 meters. The proposal addresses a critical gap in verifying compliance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans nuclear weapons in space but has no enforcement mechanism. The work is framed as a feasibility study intended to spur further research at national labs and inform policymakers. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Cosmic Discoveries by National-Security Sensors](https://daily.dev/posts/cosmic-discoveries-by-national-security-sensors-0dxfah4yt) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [3 Questions: Fortifying our planetary defenses](https://daily.dev/posts/3-questions-fortifying-our-planetary-defenses-db005gh2x) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Tritium Nuclear Battery Offers Low-Risk Space Energy](https://daily.dev/posts/tritium-nuclear-battery-offers-low-risk-space-energy-djcaiiwus) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Replicating A Nuclear Event Detector For Fun And Probably Not Profit](https://daily.dev/posts/replicating-a-nuclear-event-detector-for-fun-and-probably-not-profit-mxea1byoi) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Argonne Launches $1 Million Project to Develop Diamond Quantum Sensors for Particle Physics](https://daily.dev/posts/argonne-launches-1-million-project-to-develop-diamond-quantum-sensors-for-particle-physics-8dzalmj2i) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/mit-researcher-proposes-a-way-to-detect-nuclear-weapons-in-space-raaghrtwa) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"MIT researcher proposes a way to detect nuclear weapons in space","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/mit-researcher-proposes-a-way-to-detect-nuclear-weapons-in-space-raaghrtwa","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/mit-researcher-proposes-a-way-to-detect-nuclear-weapons-in-space-raaghrtwa"},"datePublished":"2026-07-08T15:11:05.100Z","dateModified":"2026-07-08T15:35:25.747Z","description":"MIT Professor Areg Danagoulian has published a paper in Nature proposing a satellite-based sensor system capable of detecting nuclear weapons aboard other...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/2f66d5583490cbe5976d36de449bc730?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/2f66d5583490cbe5976d36de449bc730?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"MIT News","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"MIT News","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/881e20a40aa44b12ba4bd27f5c14289d","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/mit-researcher-proposes-a-way-to-detect-nuclear-weapons-in-space-raaghrtwa","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MIT News","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/mit"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"MIT researcher proposes a way to detect nuclear weapons in space"}]} ```