During an April 18 visit to Vandenberg Space Force Base, Vice President Kamala Harris unexpectedly announced that the United States ‘commits not to conduct destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing.’ Invoking American leadership in establishing responsible norms of behavior in space, she went on to say that the United States is the first country to make such a commitment. This declaration comes only months after Russia conducted an anti-satellite weapons test that involved the destruction of one of its own satellites and generated debris that forced astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station to shelter in place.
