As the U.S. Bans Anti-Satellite Missiles, Russia Successfully Hits Its Target in Space

Vice President Kamala Harris wants an “international norm for responsible behavior in space,” and has stated that the Biden administration has initiated a self-imposed ban on anti-satellite missile testing.

The testing of these missiles causes a huge amount of space debris, which orbits the Earth and can easily damage satellites and put the lives of astronauts in danger. The U.S., China, India and Russia have all participated in such tests and there is now an estimated 4,400 pieces of space junk, floating around from China and Russia alone.

During a visit to the Vanderberg Space Force Base in California, Harris said she hopes other countries will follow suit and that “Simply put, these tests are dangerous, and we will not conduct them.”

“This debris presents a risk to the safety of our astronauts, our satellites and our growing commercial presence,” she said. “A piece of space debris the size of a basketball, which travels at thousands of miles per hour, would destroy a satellite. Even a piece of debris as small as a grain of sand could cause serious damage.”

“These weapons are intended to deny the United States our ability to use our space capabilities by destructing, destroying our satellites, satellites which are critical to our national security,” Harris said. “These tests, to be sure, are reckless, and they are irresponsible. These tests also put in danger so much of what we do in space.”

Harris’ remarks seem to make no difference to Russia, however, after they tested a missile which brought down a satellite on Monday. The U.S condemned the move, and now there are an additional 1,500 pieces of debris that could potentially stay in orbit for decades. This was the first time Russia was able to take down an orbiting satellite by a grounded missile.

The State Department called Russia’s missile tests an example of “dangerous and irresponsible behavior.”

Ned Price, the State Department spokesman told reporters Monday that, “Earlier today the Russian Federation recklessly conducted a destructive test of a direct–ascent anti-satellite missile against one of its own satellites,” 

“This test has so far generated over fifteen hundred pieces of trackable orbital debris and hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris that now threatens the interests of all nations,” said Price.

“Russia’s dangerous and irresponsible behavior jeopardizes the long-term sustainability of our space and clearly demonstrates that Russia’s claims of opposing the weapons and weaponization of space are disingenuous and hypocritical,” said Price. 

Gen. James Dickinson, commander of U.S Space Command said in a statement: “Russia has demonstrated a complete disregard for the security, safety, stability, and long-term sustainability of the space domain for all nations,” 

“The debris created by Russia’s DA-ASAT will continue to pose a threat to activities in outer space for years to come, putting satellites and space missions at risk, as well as forcing more collision avoidance maneuvers,” said Dickinson. “Space activities underpin our way of life and this kind of behavior is simply irresponsible.”

Price said the test would “significantly increase the risk to astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station, as well as to other human spaceflight activities.” 

Price’s fears were almost realized on Monday after the Russian test when crewmembers on the International Space Station were ordered to take shelter in their Dragon and Soyuz lifeboats.