On Tuesday, the director of Russian state space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, criticised the United States (US) over its recent announcement that called for an end to conducting destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile testing.
In a tweet, Rogozin, who is also a former deputy prime minister, claimed that the US has only committed to ending ASAT missile testing because it has already completed its testing. “I am translating into Russian what she [US Vice President Kamala Harris] said: The United States has completed a series of tests of anti-satellite weapons and put them into service with the US Space Force,” he wrote, suggesting that Washington has already completed the integration of ASAT missiles into its arsenal.
The US should stop the hypocritical practice of expanding unilateral military superiority in the name of arms control.
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) April 19, 2022
In a similar vein, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin noted that the US was the first country to carry out ASAT missile tests and has conducted the largest number of these tests in outer-space history. He questioned the limited scope of Washington’s commitment by asking: “Why not announce that it will not use such weapons? or Why not commit itself to banning the use of force against outer space objects?” He questioned why the US has not also announced a ban on the testing of air-based, co-orbital, and other types of anti-satellite weapons.
Wang pointed out that China and Russia had already signed a treaty opposing the weaponisation of outer space in 2008, which the US refused to sign.
In a press conference, the Chinese spokesperson noted that the US has “long pursued a strategy for dominance in space and openly defined outer space as a war-fighting domain.” He pointed out that the US has developed a wide range of “offensive outer space weapons,” such as directed energy weapons and a Counter Communications System.
Therefore, he called on the US to “truly assume its due responsibility as a major country” and correct its “negative moves” in outer space while also bringing a halt to its “hypocritical practice of expanding unilateral military superiority in the name of arms control.”
Anti-satellite (#ASAT) missile tests jeopardise the security, safety and sustainability of space.
— UK Space Agency (@spacegovuk) April 20, 2022
The UK welcomes the 🇺🇸 commitment not to conduct such tests and calls on other countries to support this step towards a safer space environment for all. https://t.co/TWJnsisCXh
Earlier this week, US Vice President Harris announced that Washington will no longer conduct “destructive” ASAT missile tests. In a statement, the White House noted that Russia’s ASAT test last year and China’s test in 2007 were “reckless and irresponsible” and resulted in a lot of debris—1,600 and 2,800 pieces of debris from Moscow and Beijing’s tests, respectively. Citing a conversation with American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Harris remarked that Russia’s test last year had jeopardised the security of its own cosmonauts as well.
In November 2021, Russia and the US bickered over Moscow’s ASAT test. At that time, the Russian Defence Ministry had claimed that Washington was “hypocritical” in its condemnation of Moscow. Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Defence Ministry saying that the US unilaterally conducts “advanced strike and combat weapons in orbit” without relaying any information to the Russian space agency.