Space companies say ASAT tests threaten economic development

Enlarge / Anti-satellite weapons from Mission Shakti are displayed during Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2020 in New Delhi, India. (credit: Ramesh Pathania/Mint via Getty Images)

More than two dozen private space companies have signed on to a statement that supports an end to destructive anti-satellite testing in space.

The statement comes two years after Russia shot down one of its older satellites, Kosmos 1408, with a Nudol missile launched from the ground. The test, intended to demonstrate Russia’s capability to shoot down assets in space, showered more than 1,500 pieces of debris into low-Earth orbit. This has forced the International Space Station and Chinese Tiangong station to perform avoidance maneuvers, along with many private and government-owned satellites.

Russia is not the only country to perform such tests. India recently did so, and in the more distant past, China and the US have also demonstrated such capabilities.