<
https://www.wired.com/story/the-un-wants-to-curb-anti-satellite-missile-tests/>
"On Monday, Japanese ambassador and delegate Ichiro Ogasawara helped kick off a
United Nations meeting in Geneva by declaring that his country will not test
satellite-exploding weapons. “I have the pleasure to announce that Japan
commits not to conduct destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile
testing,” he said. With that, Japan officially joined the call made by US Vice
President Kamala Harris in April for a moratorium on such weapons tests.
As the UN conference continued, Germany announced it would forgo such tests
too, bringing the total to five countries, including Canada and New Zealand.
Only a few days earlier, while leading the latest National Space Council
meeting, Harris had announced that the Biden administration would soon
introduce a resolution at the UN General Assembly to halt such tests
internationally.
International negotiations are never short and sweet, and the ongoing debates
at the UN this week are no different. Russia, China, and India—the three
nations other than the US that have actually done such tests—haven’t given any
sign that they’d join a moratorium. But 10 months after Russia tested a missile
that blew a defunct satellite into smithereens, flinging clouds of garbage
throughout an already junk-clogged low Earth orbit and putting the
International Space Station and spacecraft at risk, the need for the UN to
develop clear rules seems more pressing than ever."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
