White House commits to barring anti-satellite missile tests

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Monday it is barring anti-satellite missile testing by the United States, a move that White House officials say is meant to underscore its hopes of establishing new norms for military action in space.

The U.S. has sharply criticized Russia and China for conducting anti-satellite missile tests, although it also used an interceptor missile fired from a U.S. Navy warship more than 14 years ago to destroy a malfunctioning spy satellite.

The issue is one that’s taken on greater urgency after Russia in November launched a missile to destroy a defunct Soviet-era satellite. Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Russian action as an “irresponsible act.” The strike created more than 1,500 pieces of space debris that increased risk to U.S. and Russian astronauts aboard the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong space station, according to U.S. Space Command.

Harris, who chairs the White House National Space Council, planned to discuss the U.S. commitment to bar anti-satellite missile testing and establishing norms for space during a speech on Monday evening at Vandenberg Space Force Base on the central coast of California, according to the White House.

The Russian test occurred as it was massing troops ahead of its latest invasion of Ukraine. The more than seven-week-old war has left thousands dead and has caused to U.S. and its allies to hit Russia with massive economic sanctions.

A similar weapons test by China in 2007 also resulted in widespread debris.

“The long-lived debris created by these tests now threaten satellites and other space objects that are vital to all nations’ security, economic, and scientific interests, and increases risk to astronauts in space,” the White House said in a statement. “Overall, these tests jeopardize the long-term sustainability of outer space and imperil the exploration and use of space by all nations.”

The Biden administration announcement of the anti-satellite missile testing ban comes months after Harris announced at a meeting in December that White House National Security Council officials would work with officials at the Pentagon, State Department, and other U.S. national security agencies to develop proposals for national security space norms.

The U.S. is the first country to announce such a ban.

The kind of direct-ascent weapon that the Biden administration is committing not to fire relies on interceptor missiles that travel from the Earth’s surface to strike a satellite target hundreds of miles into space.

Since the 1960s, the United States, China, India and Russia have conducted more than a dozen anti-satellite tests in space that destroyed satellites and created more than 6,300 pieces of orbital debris, according to the Secure World Foundation, a nongovernmental group that advocates for sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space.

At least 4,300 pieces of that debris are still in orbit today and pose long-term threats to human spaceflight, science and national security missions, and the future economic development of space, according to the foundation.

Anti-satellite missile tests by the U.S. in 2008 as well as one by India in 2019 targeted satellites at much lower altitudes, well below the space station at about 260 miles (420 kilometers).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the destruction of a satellite in low-earth orbit by missile was meant to demonstrate India’s capacity as a “space power” alongside the U.S., Russia and China. He ordered the launch weeks before national elections.

The defunct Russian satellite Cosmos 1408 was orbiting about 40 miles (65 kilometers) higher when it was destroyed in November by a missile fired from northern Russia.

Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, called the Biden administration’s move a significant one that puts pressure on China and Russia to take similar action.

“They have made a lot of diplomatic noise the last decade about preventing a space arms race, while also testing their own (anti-satellite) weapons and creating orbital debris,” Weeden said of Russia and China.

华盛顿——拜登政府周一宣布，将禁止美国进行反卫星导弹试验。白宫官员表示，此举旨在强调其希望为太空军事行动建立新的规范。

美国严厉批评俄罗斯和中国进行反卫星导弹试验，尽管美国自己也曾在14多年前使用从美国海军军舰上发射的拦截导弹摧毁了一颗故障的间谍卫星。

在俄罗斯11月发射导弹摧毁一颗苏联时期废弃卫星后，这个问题变得更加紧迫。副总统卡马拉·哈里斯批评俄罗斯的行动是“不负责任的行为”。据美国太空司令部称，此次袭击产生了1500多块太空碎片，增加了国际空间站和中国天宫空间站上美国和俄罗斯宇航员的安全风险。

据白宫消息，担任白宫国家太空委员会主席的哈里斯计划于周一晚在加利福尼亚州中部海岸的范登堡太空部队基地发表讲话，讨论美国禁止反卫星导弹试验的承诺以及建立太空规范。

俄罗斯此次试验正值其集结兵力准备入侵乌克兰之际。这场持续七周多的战争已造成数千人死亡，并导致美国及其盟国对俄罗斯实施大规模经济制裁。

中国在2007年进行的类似武器试验也造成了大范围的碎片散落。

白宫在一份声明中表示：“这些试验产生的长期存在的太空碎片如今威胁着对各国安全、经济和科学利益至关重要的卫星和其他太空物体，并增加了宇航员在太空中的风险。总而言之，这些试验危及外层空间的长期可持续性，并危及所有国家对太空的探索和利用。”

拜登政府宣布禁止反卫星导弹试验的几个月前，哈里斯在 12 月的一次会议上宣布，白宫国家安全委员会官员将与五角大楼、国务院和其他美国国家安全机构的官员合作，制定国家安全太空规范提案。

美国是第一个宣布此类禁令的国家。

拜登政府承诺不会发射的那种直接上升式武器，依靠的是拦截导弹，这些导弹从地球表面发射，击中数百英里外太空的卫星目标。

据倡导可持续和平利用外层空间的非政府组织“安全世界基金会”称，自 20 世纪 60 年代以来，美国、中国、印度和俄罗斯已在太空进行了十几次反卫星试验，摧毁了卫星，并产生了 6300 多块轨道碎片。

据该基金会称，目前至少有 4300 块太空碎片仍在轨道上，对人类太空飞行、科学和国家安全任务以及太空的未来经济发展构成长期威胁。

美国在 2008 年进行的反卫星导弹试验以及印度在 2019 年进行的反卫星导弹试验，目标是高度低得多的卫星，远低于约 260 英里（420 公里）的空间站。

印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪表示，用导弹摧毁近地轨道卫星旨在向世人展示印度与美国、俄罗斯和中国并驾齐驱的“太空强国”实力。他是在全国大选前几周下令进行此次发射的。

已失效的俄罗斯卫星“宇宙1408”在11月被一枚从俄罗斯北部发射的导弹摧毁时，其轨道高度比地面高出约40英里（65公里）。

安全世界基金会项目规划主任布莱恩·韦登称，拜登政府的这一举措意义重大，给中国和俄罗斯施加了压力，促使它们采取类似行动。

韦登谈到俄罗斯和中国时说：“过去十年，他们大肆宣扬要防止太空军备竞赛，同时还在测试自己的（反卫星）武器，制造轨道碎片。”