The danger is not so much the weapons themselves, but the mess they create in space
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskFour countries—America, China, India and Russia—have conducted such tests, most recently Russia in November last year. The danger Ms Harris fears is not so much the weapons themselves, but the mess they create. Space is already full of junk: empty rocket stages, flecks of paint, nuts and bolts, toothbrushes dropped by careless astronauts and the like. It can stay aloft for decades. At orbital speeds, even small items can cause damage.
Meanwhile the number of satellites in orbit is rising fast. SpaceX, an American firm, has permission to launch around 12,000 satellites for its Starlink orbital-internet service, more than have been launched since the Space Age began in 1957. Others firms such as Planet and Maxar, which provide orbital imagery, run fleets of their own. Armies rely on satellites for communication, weather forecasting and even to provide early warning in the event of a nuclear attack.
Since that would be bad for everyone, Ms Harris hopes that other countries might copy America’s policy. Perhaps. The timing of the initiative is inauspicious, to put it mildly. Alongside $2.5bn in weapons shipments, America is thought to be supplying intelligence, including from satellites, to Ukraine’s army, to help that country fight Russia’s invasion. Russian officials have complained about SpaceX’s shipments of satellite terminals to Ukraine’s armed forces.
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