Air Force Two touched down on the Central Coast April 18, when Vice President Kamala Harris landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
While she was there, Harris announced that the U.S. was taking a “major step forward” in addressing “the problem of destructive missile tests in space, like the one Russia took in November.”
“We have consistently condemned these tests, and called them reckless,” Harris said, referring to Russia’s anti-satellite missile test in 2021, and a similar test conducted by China in 2007.
“But that is not enough,” she continued. “Today, we are going further. … As of today, the United States commits not to conduct destructive, direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing.”
Harris said that the U.S. is the first nation to make a commitment of this kind and called for other nations to “join us.”
“In the days and months ahead, we will work with other nations to establish this as a new international norm for responsible behavior in space,” the vice president said.
Harris explained that before her speech, she received a briefing from the 18th Space Defense Squadron, a unit located at Vandenberg, and used the squadron’s findings as examples of the harm caused by anti-satellite missile testing.
“When China and Russia destroyed their respective satellites, it generated thousands of pieces of debris—debris that will now orbit our Earth for years, if not decades,” Harris said. “So far, the 18th has identified more than 1,600 pieces of debris from the Russian test. There are 2,800 pieces of debris still in space from China’s test, 15 years ago.”
Harris said that a piece of debris the size of a basketball, or even as small as a grain of sand—moving at thousands of miles per hour—is a risk to national security due to the damage it can cause to U.S. satellites.
Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann—one of several elected officials who attended the speech—told the Sun that the vice president’s remarks “really drew in sharp relief, for me, what the problem is.” She praised Harris’ stance on propelling the anti-satellite missile ban as an international norm.
Hartmann said she also appreciated the vice president’s point about space debris not only damaging defense satellites, but satellites that affect “a whole host of different applications on Earth,” including GPS.
Harris also spoke about the importance of nations upholding ongoing norms “on the world stage,” and used Russia as an example.
“Rules and norms provide us all with a sense of order and stability. As we have seen in Ukraine, Russia has completely violated the set of international rules and norms established after World War II, which provided unprecedented peace and security in Europe,” Harris said. “Our administration is working to establish new rules and norms for the new challenges of the 21st century—areas like emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and of course, space.”
“I believe without clear norms, we face unnecessary risks in space,” she continued. “The United States will continue to be a leader in order to establish, to advance, and demonstrate norms for the responsible and peaceful use of outer space. … We must write the new rules of the road, and we will lead by example.”
This article appears in Apr 21-28, 2022.
