Rules required over space weapons tests

Satellites are integral to communications and national security, so it is little wonder nations with the capability want to put in place systems to prevent their damage or destruction. India has joined China, Russia and the United States with that capacity, last month shooting down one of its own satellites with a ground-to-space missile to prove its ability. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, campaigning for re-election, hailed the event and contended his country was now a space power. His nationalistic pride was misplaced; weaponising places beyond Earth is one matter, but creating hazardous debris without regard for others is quite another.

The timing of the test and Modi’s announcement on live television is understandably being viewed by opponents as an attempt to score votes ahead of the month-long general election, which begins on Thursday. An investigation has been opened by the Election Commission into whether the electoral code of conduct has been violated. Lost in the triumphant flag-waving is the reality that authorities gave no warning of the plan and foreign governments were caught off guard. The surprise highlights the lack of an international mechanism to regulate activities in space and enforce rules.

India’s destruction of the satellite created hundreds of pieces of debris that pose a risk to the space assets of other nations. Objects in Earth’s orbit move at great speeds that can cause damage or destruction should they collide with spacecraft and they have been blamed on occasion for satellite failures. Modi said his country’s test had been carried out in low orbit to minimise dangers and that the debris would fall to Earth and burn up on re-entry. But that position has been challenged by experts, including officials from the US space agency, who contend the six crew on board the International Space Station could be at risk should debris move to higher orbits.

A similar test by China in 2007 was widely criticised. There are United Nations guidelines on tracking and recovering debris, but no rules on weapons testing. India should have learned a lesson; there should be peaceful cooperation in space and greater effort to mitigate creation of space junk.