Reuters: U.S. studying India anti-satellite weapons test, warns of space debris
MIAMI (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan warned any nations contemplating anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons tests like the one India carried out on Wednesday that they risk making a “mess” in space because of debris fields they can leave behind.
Speaking to reporters in Florida during a visit to the U.S. military’s Southern Command, Shanahan said the United States was still studying the outcome of a missile India said it launched at one of its own satellites.
“My message would be: We all live in space, let’s not make it a mess. Space should be a place where we can conduct business. Space is a place where people should have the freedom to operate,” Shanahan said.
Experts say that anti-satellite weapons that shatter their targets pose a space hazard by creating a cloud of fragments that can collide with other objects, potentially setting off a chain reaction of projectiles through Earth orbit.
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Update: India shows it can destroy satellites in space, worrying experts about space debris (Vice)
WNU Editor: It is too early to say how much debris was created, but the strike was at a low orbit and there is hope that much of it will burn over the next few years. But the question now is .... who will conduct the next anti-satellite test?
