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I'm not familiar with the area but aren't anti-satellite weapons forbidden under certain treaties, similar to how nuclear weapons in space are banned? The US sp
by lunarscape 15y ago
I'm not familiar with the area but aren't anti-satellite weapons forbidden under certain treaties, similar to how nuclear weapons in space are banned? The US spun their test as preventing damage from a bad satellite and the Chinese said something similar.
- icegreentea 15y agoNope. The Outer Space Treaty forbids many things, but does not forbid anti-satellite weapons, especially if those weapons are not based on orbit. In fact, the Outer Space Treaty does not even forbid conventional weapons in orbit. It basically only bans WMDs in space, and forbids military use of other celestial bodies (nothing about space itself). Anti-satellite weapons were largely held in check by technical issues, cost, as well as avoiding escalation/arms race. The recent weapons test are an example of that. Once you start actively developing these weapons again, everyone else who can will follow to protect their interests. Both of their spins are largely for PR, not legal/treaty reasons.
- lunarscape 15y agoWow, that's really interesting. It's also kind of frightening as well. I wonder if in the future Kessler Syndrome will be considered a viable doomsday-like scenario.
- caf 15y agoThe other thing that has put a brake on too much ASAT exuberance is the large amount of long-lived debris that kinetic ASAT kills create. It wouldn't take many kinetic ASAT shots before LEO was entirely unuseable for years to come, an outcome which (so far) has been sobering for all concerned.