Russia and China have proposed a new treaty to ban the use of weapons in space, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday, amid concerns of growing anti-satellite missile rivalry.
"Without preventing an arms race in space, international security will be wanting," Lavrov told a conference on disarmament in Geneva.
"The task of preventing an arms race in space is on the conference's agenda. It's time... to start serious practical work in this field," he said.
The new treaty would prohibit the deployment of weapons of any kind in space, and the use or threat of force against space objects, he added.
Concerns over a new arms race in space have been growing since China tested an anti-satellite missile in January last year, sparking diplomatic concern.
The United States also has its own anti-satellite programme ranging from laser cannon to satellite destroying missiles.
Note: almost any militarily useful laser - 100 kw or higher - will be a useful ASAT weapon.
It's obvious whey the Russians want this: their tech base couldn't compete on this level. The Chinese could and probably would continue development covertly. This wouldn't stop ASAT or space based weaponry developments, it would merely allow others to catch up...which is what the Chinese want. Their credibility wrt ASATs and opposed space based weaponization got shot to hell along with that satellite they shot down.
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