Nobody is denying that the US has tested space-based weapons. But that issue is still “whataboutism” in regards to this specific weapons test, which has created a specific and ongoing hazard threatening the existence of an occupied space station and everyone in it.
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Presumably, we are now testing the anti-anti-satellite missile missiles? Did the Russian missile also include smaller anti-anti-anti-satellite missile missile missiles?
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I’ve seen something like this before on YouTube. Stupefying amounts of damage. It was, yes, Russians, but in cars. Driving. And probably drunk.
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Manley does imply that targeting a low orbiting satellite (or even launching a purpose built target into a very low orbit) is marginally more responsible.
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Will be a while before the total extent is clear, but the potential is there for bad stuff to occur. Nothing for it now but to sit and watch, unless someone has come up with a project to deorbit some the bigger chunks, at least. Although at orbital speeds, even the tiny bits can pack a punch.
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From a press release,
“Russia is developing and deploying capabilities to actively deny access to and use of space by the United States and its allies and partners,” Dickinson added. “Russia’s tests of direct-ascent anti-satellite weapons clearly demonstrate that Russia continues to pursue counterspace weapon systems that undermine strategic stability and pose a threat to all nations.”
And from a Russian News Agency
“We would prefer that the United States should sit down at the negotiating table at last, instead of making groundless accusations, and discuss its concerns with regard to the treaty, which Russia and China are proposing to prevent this arms race and which the US cannot accept. It would be very interesting for us to hear a specific and reasoned position and not pretexts. We are ready for that,” Russia’s top diplomat said.
As the Russian foreign minister pointed out, Washington’s claims that Moscow is creating risks for peaceful space exploration are hypocritical. “No facts exist,” Lavrov stressed.
The United States urges Russia to work out some universal regulations for space exploration but ignores the initiative put forward by Russia and China on drafting a treaty on preventing an arms race in outer space, Russia’s top diplomat pointed out.
Yet the treaty in question (“Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects”) would not necessarily forbid this particular test. The missile launcher was not based in outer space, but on the ground, and if the satellite owners consent, can it really be categorized as “use of force”?
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