The Biden Administration on April 18 announced a unilateral moratorium on anti-satellite missile tests, inviting other nations operating in space to follow the initiative.
The vice president Kamala Harris announced a ban on conducting such tests for the United States, following tests conducted in recent years by Russia, China ed India that destroyed their own satellites in orbit, creating dangerous debris clouds that will remain in space for decades.
"Simply put, these tests are dangerous and we will not conduct themHe said during a speech from the Vandenberg space force base in California. "We are the first nation to make such a commitment". The risk of human conflict extending into the cosmos is increasing as the world has become increasingly dependent on satellites to communicate, navigate and lead daily life. Many nations, armed forces and companies have exploited new space technologies, obtaining more competitiveness on Earth and polluting space is not convenient for anyone.
Tests on anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) date back to the early days of the Cold War. Over the past decade, however, the United States, Russia and China have developed sophisticated anti-satellite arsenals designed to make satellites deaf, dumb and blind in space. Missiles are the best known space weapon, but several nations have developed other measures including lasers, subtle jamming capabilities, cyberattacks, and maneuverable spacecraft designed to deceive, disrupt, deny, degrade or destroy other nations' space systems.
Despite these advances, there are still few applicable rules for military activity in space.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits countries from deploying "nuclear weapons or any other type of weapon of mass destruction" in space. According to analysts, the Treaty must be revised because at the time of its drafting it did not foresee the rapid development of today's technology.
Keeping the proliferation of such weapons in check is essential to avoiding an international catastrophe, whether intentional or accidental. Until recently, space was viewed as a peaceful domain. Many satellites, such as the GPS constellation, were thought to be too far away and too expensive to target. But today's growing missile technology has brought them within their range.
This new reality was one of the main factors that favored the creation in 2019 of the Space Force as a new American military. While the partnership between the United States and Russia in space has traditionally transcended terrestrial political tensions, even during the Cold War, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has today raised new tensions between the two countries' space programs.
Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space program, has threatened to withdraw from the International Space Station and to stop supplying rocket engines to US companies.