January 2023
China’s space ambitions fuel defence spending and global innovation
... high orbits. Counterspace weapons already pose a threat today on-orbit. In 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite missile (ASAT) test and the world is still tracking orbital debris generated from it. More troubling is that President Xi recently...
September 2023
A multifaceted approach to space sustainability
... debris. One such entirely avoidable action is the conduct of debris-producing anti-satellite weapons tests. Dozens of ASAT weapons tests have been conducted since the 1960s, mostly by the United States and the former...
September 2023
Space sustainability and the global commons
... future potential of enforceability becomes relevant. In this context, we now have a few unilateral moratoria on anti-satellite (ASAT) tests and they should be extended and also become binding. Space debris regulation It is important to realise that...
23 September 2020
Third move for the ISS this year to avoid space debris
... obliterated a low-Earth orbit satellite in space to become the fourth nation in the world with anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities. The unexpected test was later condemned when data on the event showed that some of the...
13 May 2023
Inmarsat boss calls for urgent action to reduce space debris
... services provider in 2021, welcomed moves in the past year which have seen more countries signing up to the ASAT (anti-satellite testing) ban, ESA proposing a zero space debris policy by 2030, a new five-year rule...
