More countries encouraged to commit to halt destructive ASAT tests

NEW YORK — Despite an amazing vote of support by the United Nations General Assembly six months ago, advocates of a moratorium on one variety of anti-satellite tests say they’re still working to get more countries to adopt it.

The U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution in December 2022 encouraging countries to not conduct destructive direct-ascent (DA) ASAT tests. A complete of 155 nations voted in favor of the resolution while nine, including China and Russia, voted against it. Nine other nations, including India, abstained.

“That form of vote count indicates a really strong base of support,” said Audrey Schaffer, director of space policy on the National Security Council, during a June 13 presentation on the Secure World Foundation’s Summit for Space Sustainability here.

Nonetheless, she noted that the resolution was non-binding. “It doesn’t commit states to the norm. It encourages states to make national commitments to this norm,” she said. “To actually establish an internationally recognized norm banning destructive DA-ASAT missile testing, we’d like a critical mass of countries to truly make the commitment.”

To this point, 13 nations have made that commitment, most recently Italy in April. “Our work in curtailing these irresponsible acts will not be finished,” she said. “We have now to proceed the drumbeat of countries making commitments to this emerging international norm.”

The USA was the primary to commit to now not conduct destructive DA-ASAT tests in April 2022, five months after Russia conducted such a test, destroying the defunct Cosmos 1408 satellite and creating 1000’s of pieces of debris. Vice President Kamala Harris, who announced the ban, encouraged other nations to make similar commitments.

The primary to hitch the US was Canada in May 2022. “It is straightforward to acknowledge. It is simple to attribute. On condition that it’s very detrimental, this was certainly one of the highest threats that needed to be addressed,” Maryse Ducharme, special advisor on space for Canada’s Department of National Defence, said of Canada’s decision to adopt the test ban, during a conference panel June 14.

She agreed that more nations must make similar commitments. That would, she said, result in a legally binding international ban on such tests, which she said Canada would support.

Hyerin Kim, second secretary within the disarmament and non-proliferation division of South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a June 14 conference speech that discussions like those held by a U.N.-chartered working group on reducing space threats helped create a “whole-of-government common understanding” on the hazards posed by destructive direct-ascent ASAT tests. South Korea formally committed to not conduct such tests in October 2022.

Kim said South Korea was pleased 155 nations voted in favor of the U.N. resolution in December. “We understand that other states that voted for the resolution but haven’t yet joined the commitment need a while to thoroughly review the domestic effects” of such a commitment, she said. “Korea can also be making efforts to lift awareness of the danger posed by ASAT testing.”

While some work to get more countries to commit to not conduct destructive DA-ASAT tests, others need to go further. “These are wonderful first steps, but we must do more as a community to work towards a ban on all ASATs,” said Mark Mozena, vp of presidency affairs at Planet, which operates tons of of satellites in danger from orbital debris, during a June 13 talk.

He said an overall ban would address criticism that a moratorium doesn’t hurt the US, having previously tested ASATs. “We are able to push past this criticism by pushing for binding international agreements to ban all debris-creating activities and weapons and not only limit the testing of those systems,” he said. “We want to maneuver to a prohibition and never a voluntary moratorium. Working towards a world prohibition to ban all use of kinetic ASATs is a worthwhile goal which is able to help protect space for generations.”