The increased militarisation of space is a concern for future international co-operation in the domain, according to Tim Peake, European Space Agency astronaut and former British Army helicopter pilot, speaking recently before the UK Defence Committee.
Russia’s apparent testing of an anti-satellite missile capability, which saw a kinetic effector impact with the inactive Russian COSMOS1408 satellite on November 15, resulted in the fragmentation of the platform.
According to the UK’s Space Operations Centre (SOC), data suggested that the destruction of the satellite generated more than 1,500 pieces of trackable data in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 450-500km, thereby increasing the risk of debris colliding with other platforms in LEO. The result of this could cause a chain reaction and severely damage or disable space-based networks.
According to Peake, Russia has had such technology “for many decades” and described the test as being “not in accord” with the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty, intended to set the framework for the peaceful development of space.
“The increase in the militarisation of space does cause friction and does make it difference. When we look beyond the International Space Station, we…
