This evening, vice president Kamala Harris announced that the U.S. will no longer conduct anti-satellite, or asat, missile tests. Harris is challenging other countries to establish this policy as a new’norm of responsible behavior in space’.

Harris currently serves as the chair of the White House’s National Space Council, an executive advisory group that helps to set the nation’s space agenda. Harris will speak more extensively on the new commitment during a speech at Vandenberg space Force base in California this evening.

Russia launched one of its nudol missiles from earth in November. The explosion created a massive cloud of more than 1,500 pieces of trackable debris. The satellite’s destruction occurred in a fairly close orbit to that of the International Space Station.

The United States swiftly condemned the test, as did NATO and the European Union. Tests like these – known as direct ascent asat tests – are widely reviled because of their propensity to create dangerous debris.

The U.S. is taking that step in light of Russia’s actions. Experts say the move is a’really powerful move’.

The same missile technology used to destroy a fast-moving satellite can also be used to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles. asat tests can act as technology demonstrations.

Only four countries have demonstrated this technology on their own satellites. In 2019, India destroyed one of its own satellites, creating a few hundred pieces of debris – half of which have already burned up in our planet’s atmosphere. In 2007, China destroyed its fengyun-1c weather satellite, creating thousands of debris.

Us strategic command launched a missile at a decaying spy satellite from the National Reconnaissance office. The satellite contained nearly 1,000 pounds of a toxic propellant called Hydrazine. Shooting down the satellite was a safety measure to prevent the propellant from doing harm if the satellite survived the plunge through earth’s atmosphere.

It’s been more than a decade since the US has conducted an asat test. The US is reluctant to call for an end to the practice.

The orbit around earth has grown increasingly crowded over the last few years. It has become easier and cheaper for companies to launch privately built satellites into space.

In December, US Department of defense deputy secretary Kathleen Hicks expressed a desire for the international community to halt asat tests.’we would like to see all nations agree to refrain from anti-satellite weapons testing that creates debris,’ she said.

It’s unclear which countries will follow suit, and there is currently no way to hold countries accountable for their pledges. The US is leading the way on the effort and calling for other countries to do the same.

In May, the United Nations is convening an open-ended working group tasked with establishing’norms, rules, and principles of responsible behaviors’ in space. The group is concerned with debris-generating events caused by the intentional destruction of spacecraft in orbit.